Customer Reviews

Micro Fiction: An Anthology of Fifty Really Short Stories

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There is something peculiarly strange and enticing about a 250 word or less short story, which is what Micro-Fiction is all about. Nietzsche said, "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences; what others say in a whole book." and this pocket-sized book quite nearly delivers on that idea. With the several great stories compiled here, amongst the run of the mill good ones and not so good, one obtains the euphoria of having read a novel but in several short minutes. That's the novelty as well as the sticking point that makes it worthwhile. Through a stilting of character build-up and plot formation the reader is treated to and surfeited with a story-line and climax without the usual bombast and self-serving rhetoric which encompasses many novels. I'm a great believer in the economy of words and saving the reader unnecessary heavy eye-work on tedious detail and this fits the bill.

Although some of the fictions are amorphic and seemingly without any structure, they seem to be the most enticing, at least to me. But the majority present a story-line, often novel, which are to the point and leave the reader with a stamped impression and miles of possibility for examining what led what to where and why and how. In the back cover synopsis the reader is asked to ponder, "How short can a Micro be,..." and then challenges them to find out, "Look up Amy Hempel's contribution(which there are two), and you'll see." And see you will:

Hostess

She swallowed Gore Vidal. Then she swallowed Donald Trump. She took a blue capsule and a gold spansule--a B-complex and an E--and put them on the tablecloth a few inches apart. She pointed the one at the other. "Martha Stewart," she said, "meet Oprah Winfrey."

She swallowed them both without water.

--Amy Hempel

Of the several series of minimalist fiction in print (Sudden Fiction, Flash Fiction, etc.) I found this volume the most satisfying as well as the one I came back to the most. In fact when I was done reading it through the first time I did several internet searches to see if I could uncover more similar works. Sadly, with the passing of the editor and brainchild behind the collection back in 1996, the sub-genre has seemingly been left behind. Let's hope there is a revival and a subsequent significant publication(s) to follow.

Stern provides an introduction relating short-shorts and micro-shorts to teaching tales, fables, jokes and similar short tales with ancient roots both in literary and oral cultures. In doing so, he takes the short-short out of "current fads" and puts it into legitimate literature.

His collection is based on a limit originally of 250 words, raised to 300 - micros not just short-shorts. The collection gleaned from contests is a very mixed bag - some tales are memorable, some interesting and forgetable, a handful you wonder how they made the cut. These fall into the normal percentages that an anthology normally presents.

Memorable tales: The Poet's Husband by Mollie Giles - a wry look at listening to your spouse's confessional poetry. The Halo by Michael McFee - the difficulties (and solutions) to raising Jesus. Worry by Ron Wallace - observations on worry as a dominate family member. Painted Devils by Fred Chappell - a friendship in trench and safety.

A few of the tales strike be as character sketches not narratives; a few seem to have been squished and mangled into a contest form rather than allow the tale to dictate its form. But given all that, this is a pleasant introduction to the smallest of the small.

I love very short stories, but found Micro Fiction a disappointment. Most of the stories were too abstract for me; stories not having a clear story line and some seeming to ramble on without much intent nor a conclusion.

The editor must have found stories like these of interest to place so many together in one book.

Other very short story book selections I've enjoyed are:

1) "The World's Shortest Stories of Love and Death: Passion, Betrayal, Suspicion, Revenge, All This and More in a New Collection of Amazing Short Stories-Each One Just 55 Words Long" edited by Steve Moss;

2) a second 55-word story book edited by Steve Moss;

3)"Flash Fiction: Very Short Stories" longer than the Micro Fictions selections, but less abstract

4) Many of the Barnes and Noble short story book selections.

Micro fiction is a great collection of compositional muscle flexing. Some wonderful, some horrible, each one of the story-lets contained within this book is enjoyable to read, if only for the experiment. It is as though the collection of authors is trying to "even the score" with the Picture, by seeing how few words it really has to take to impart deep meaning. It may even encourage your own attempt at concise writing. This book is great fun, easy to put in your bag and short enough per segment that you don't mind people interrupting your concentration on a crowded train. Watch out, though: it's over quickly.

Since I'm required to teach both poetry and fiction in my university intro class, this book provided a very logical bridge between the two genres and gave students excellent examples of how to sharpen their perception and language to fit a very small space. We've also enjoyed the variety of voices in this dynamite little text.

There are some good things as well as some bad things about Micro Fiction. The good thing about this book is that it has variation in the texture and tone of the stories. My favorite would have to be Morning News which was written by the author himself. Also the author has managed to touch on many different subject matters. However the bad news is that many of the stories in the book are not very well written, some of it is formula fiction and I had trouble understanding the meaning behind a couple of them. The upside is that the book costs less than $20

Micro fiction is a wonderful collection of extremely short stories, hence Micro Fiction. Contained within the small book are short stories submitted to Florida State University's World's Best Short Short Story contest. They range from serious to humorous and show the art of writing a really short story and all that this art form has to offer. Defiantly a recommended read for anyone dabbling in writing, because it forces the reader to consider another form of writing.

Only a few tweaks could make this collection better. First, updating and releasing a second edition. Micro Fiction was published in 1996 so there are nine years of wonderful stories that aren't in it. Two, add more stories and make it a longer collection. The stories are short, under 250 words, so they don't take long to read. But it is a great collection of an commonly overlooked genre of writing. A must have for any writer.

I am a fan of micro-fiction, which, when it's written well, allows the reader to think about what he or she has read due to the cleverness and possibly the twist at the end. With that said, short stories (be they short films or literary short stories) are tough to write. Many stories that were chosen for this particular compilation don't make sense, or are very abstract, don't have a definitive beginning, middle, end, or characters a reader should care about. I was personally asking, "And...?" or "What was the point?"

Stories shouldn't do that.

A few that did catch my attention, and felt "done" were:

*Chickens by Elaine Magarrel

(Chickens attempt to turn the hands of fate)

*A Gentleman's C by Padget Powell

(A college instructor who finds his aged father a student in his class gets revenge, but regrets it)

The story by Powell doesn't have a beginning, middle, and end (or at least a begining and end, sans middle)...but it does comes off as an interesting "anecdote."

This anthology has a lot of really useful pieces of micro fiction/flash fiction/short short stories that really help understand the diverse dynamics to writing in this genre. It's a small book which makes it a nice addition an already heavy backpack, a quick and easy read which is great to balance out the other requirements for a degree in English, and a lot of the stories are really fun to read. It's a great anthology that I truly feel captures the genre for what it is.

There's some really brilliant and engaging work in this, and even the worst of it is worthwhile. It's an ideal introduction to the possibilities of this rapidly emerging genre.