In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction [Paperback]

Mary Paumier Jones (Editor), Judith Kitchen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 1996

Welcome to the first anthology to identify and celebrate a new nonfiction form: the Short!

Something is going on out there. Almost simultaneously, many of our finest writers are experimenting with a new nonfiction form: brief pieces that are literary and personal rather than informational, complete in themselves, and short—very short. Although the form has not had a name until now, the writers who are atrracted to it include the known—Tim O'Brien, Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, Michael Ondaatje—as well as just-discovered voices in the field of creative nonfiction, a genre that is transforming the essay.

Delights and surprises await the reader in this rich gathering of Shorts (ranging from several paragraphs to two thousand words). From Diane Ackerman's fascination with hummingbirds, to Andrei Codrescu's idiosyncratic view of nostalgia, to Albert Goldbarth's free-wheeling riff on the universe, each Short becomes a sharply focused lens on an outer world or an inner sensibility.

In Short, reflecting almost every way in which nonfiction can be written, is for all readers (and writers) who thrive on imaginative play and aesthetic satisfaction. Pick up this book; open it up. See if you can resist it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even readers skeptical of short-attention-span publishing will find these short-short (fewer than 2000 words) essays addictive. They're like a plate of Cheese Doodles at a party: not every one is crisp and perfect, but many are, and so the reader keeps going, waiting for the next flash of brilliance. The short-short essay form seems to inspire people to write about nature. Though some are flaccid, the best, such as Kathleen Norris's paean to rain and Donald Hall's wry notes about the joy we take in suffering bad weather, connect natural events to humanity. Short memoirs are poignant, and the form cuts away any sentimentality. In three paragraphs, Stuart Dybek recalls the summer nights when drivers would occasionally pass through his neighborhood with their headlights off, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. gives his family's reasoning about why white people are poor cooks. Within such a short form, the spaces between things become paramountand in the best cases make exposition unnecessary. Judson Mitcham tells of feeding his mother in the hospital, then spotting a mass of starlings on his way home. In recalling the 50 pounds of moose meat her father gave her when she departed for college in the '60s, Brenda Peterson easily explains the food chain and her place in it. The editors contribute a cogent introduction on this innovative form, and Bernard Cooper writes in his preface about how small events become powerful, then demonstrates just that principle with a concluding meditation on sighing that is both sad and funny.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Kitchen, a poetry reviewer for the Georgia Review, and Jones, a librarian and essayist, have compiled an anthology of 90 brief pieces, ranging from a few paragraphs to a few pages each, to introduce the emerging genre of "creative nonfiction." Somewhat less informational than standard essays, these nonfiction shorts focus on distilled insights, scenes, and memories. Indeed, many of the writers showcased here are best known for their poetry (e.g., Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Rita Dove); some, such as Diane Ackerman, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Lee Gutkind (Creative Nonfiction, LJ 4/1/96), are seasoned in nonfiction; others are less well known. The editors have artfully arranged the works so that a theme or keyword thread connects each writing to the next one. For example, "Across the Street," an essay about a dying neighbor, is followed by "A Wind from the North," which reminisces about a recently deceased uncle. Yet each gem stands on its own. Biographical notes complete the volume. Recommended for public libraries.?Cathy Sabol, Northern Virginia Community Coll., Manassas
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (July 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393314928
• ISBN-13: 978-0393314922
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best collection of nonfiction I ever read--inspiring., May 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction (Hardcover)

I could not put this book down. An aspiring writer, it filled me with fire to get back to writing in my journal--noting details of the day's people and events with new passion and belief in my own observations. So many of the pieces in the book are wondrous, but I especially liked INTO THE STORM by Jerry Ellis which is from his book, WALKING THE TRAIL, about his 900 mile walk along the Cherokee Trail of Tears.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For Any Doctor's Office or Bathroom Stand, October 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction (Paperback)

This is a sharp collection of creative non-fiction, each piece in the book could stand alone as a powerful piece of writing--and the collection of works define (in a collaborative sense) the very essence of the direction that this "new" branch of literature is taking. From heartwarming introspection to horrifying accounts of war, this book travels the spectrum of human emotion with short, deeply personal glimpses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable., July 15, 2008

By 

Seven Kitties "7kitties" (Blue Point, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction (Paperback)

Here's my quibble, and it's a quibble against the genre more than this book: I'm not sure how I feel about the 'short'. (I know, so why'd I buy the dang book?) Part of me distrusts the genre as pandering to the ever-shrinking attention spans of our culture. We get our news in disconnected soundbytes, the average news story is 30 seconds long...you know the 'crabby old timer' diatribe. So, I'm ambivalent about the genre.

That being said, this is a great book. It has consoled me that not everything short is shallow. I keep it by my computer to leaf through when my ancient dialup is cranking its way to the hinternets, and have found the nibble-sized essays to be just the ticket to turn a wait into a refreshing pause. The editors took enormous care in sequencing the selections, and part of the enjoyment as a reader for me has come from tracing themes (birds, gender, death, etc) as they pop up like threads in a tapestry throughout the book as a whole. It's best read in little nibbles, with a bit of thought after each piece.

Now, I'm not crazy in love with every selection in this book. There are some standouts (can anyone make it through "Tino & Papi" without getting choked up?), a good number of very good essays, and a few 'ehh' pieces that left me unmoved. (That may be just my taste, though).

The benefit of 'shorts' is that in a relatively small space, the editors can give you tons and tons of range. You get essays that strike your heart. Essays that get your brain working. Essays that cause you to well with nostalgia. Essays that bring you peace and calm.

Creative nonfiction has in the last five years (since I started teaching--whoa, that makes me sound like I'm somehow instrumental in it. I'm not!) begun to grow as a genre. Memoir, reflection, meditation, personal essay are represented in this book. Literary journalism is not. But there are at least three massive LJ anthologies I can think of, while this is one of a kind, and specializing in the supershort. It's a good addition to the library of anyone teaching the genre, as well as anyone who wants to experience the wider horizon of creative nonfiction.