Customer Reviews

World's Shortest Stories Of Love And Death

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to imagine that a good story could be written with 55 words or less, but the fact is that it is, indeed, possible. These are not essays or poems, they are real stories with all of the following: a setting, at least one character, a conflict, and a resolution. It's incredible to read how creative some people can be with such a restriction on the number of words that are allowed in these stories. Well worth the read! At the end of the book, the publishers challenge the readers to write their own 55 word story and submit it for publication in their next book (which was how this book came about...from a challenge to the readers of the first "55" book!) The rules for this contest are also included (what constitutes a word, where to send your story, etc) This is a wickedly fun book (I say "wickedly fun" since so many of the stories deal with a twisted murder plot or some strange love relationship) that I highly recommend!!

This sweet little collection of very humorous,sad, and horrific(and that is in just one story)short stories is a lot of fun to read.Just like pistachio nuts...can't stop at one...so I read it all in one sitting...which isn't difficult of course!I'm buying the rest in the series today.

Remember: This is no huge novel filled with profound thoughts on every page. This is a little tiny book,filled with profound thoughts on every page!So chill out and accept it for what it is: A fun read...most of the time...and keep an eye out for sadness just around the corner.

Firstly 55 words is not very many (by the end of this sentence it'll be 19 already!). Secondly these are not just extended haiku or stories lacking in plot they have a beginning, a plot, a middle and an end. I really enjoyed them, there was huge variety (these stories are the best of a vast quantity submitted to a newspaper) and the perspectives they offered were very varied. I'd give 5 stars except for the fact that some of the 'twists in the tale' became a little tedious after a while. You could pick up this book and read a couple, put it down, go back to it etc it being a book of short stories however they are so short and so compelling that I doubt if you'll be able to. For anyone who's read 'Anthropology' and has doubts about such a limited number of words have faith this is worth it. For anyone who's a haiku nut and thinks this could be US haiku it's not but read it anyway it's great fun.

This is an anthology of an artificial genre - stories of 55 words or less. In this genre, if the story is truly to be a narrative, there is no room for wasted words or mistakes. The previous volume was about one third stories that seemed to fit the form rather than being squeezed into the form. In this anthology fully three-fourths seem natural.

One type of story that works very well are those that are based on familiar stories - Hamlet, Adam and Eve, nursery rhymes; these have an extended background that serves as an assumed part of the story. Some would be gimicks in lesser hands - the story presented as a recipe, another Adam and Eve play. Several are wonderful plays on expectations - Temptation by Eric Sandberg and Chris Hansen where truth is truer than expected or The Masterpiece by Karen Robles where the arsonist's love of fire is carried to its logical conclusion.

The form still is a bit of a gimick when one story after another meets the 55 word limit, but many of these stories would be recognized as solid stories if intermingled with stories of other sizes.

"The World's Shortest Stories of Love and Death," edited by Steve Moss and John M. Daniel, is an anthology of stories that do not exceed 55 words in length. The introduction refers to the 55-word story as a "sub-genre of the short story." This collection demonstrates the possibilities of this sub-genre.

The stories cover a broad range of subject matter: technology, murder, sexual orientation, greed, lust, etc. The editors include science fiction and the supernatural. There are riffs on established literary works, and lots of pop culture references.

Although some selections are gimmicky, overall this is a good collection. A number of stories end with a twist. The book ends with a section entitled "How to Write a 55-Word Story," which should be particularly useful for teachers.

Some books, you pick up and can never put down. This one is like that. It's not like having a turkey dinner, more like snacking on chocolate: Once you have one, you want another and another and another...

The World's Shortest Stories Of Love And Death is an outstanding, unabridged, two audio cassette collection of superbly narrated short stories (one just 55 words in length) with the themes of passion, suspicion, betrayal, murder and revenge. The impressive roster of seasoned authors include such notable writers as Norman Lear, Charles Schulz, Barnaby Conrad, and Larry Niven. Supported by flawless production values, the narrators, Alyssa Bresnahan, Laura Hamilton and Jeff Woodman provide a true "theatre of the mind" listening experience. The World's Shortest Stories Of Love And Death is a highly recommended acquisition for personal and community library audiobook collections, and a "must" for fans of the short story mystery format.

Looking for a good time and a fast turnover? Then, this is the book for you! The variety and number of stories within the covers will boggle your mind. The intensity and usage of the words are a great study for anyone who admires efficiency and quality. As a teacher of intellectually gifted high school English students, the book provides a great trigger for them to write and to attempt to submit works for publication. "Gertrude's Soliloquy" is especially pertinent after reading "Hamlet". Being from New Orleans, makes "Red Beans Anne Rice" amusing, but my personal favorite is "And the Horse They Rode On" because it makes creative and skillful use of an age old teaching tool, the fill-in-the-blank! There will surely be something to grab everyone in this clever idea of a book.

This is a follow-up to the remarkable "The World's Shortest Stories." Each of these stories must contain 55 words or fewer, and the editors have rules that supposedly ensure that this 55 rule is obeyed. I don't think, however, that misspellings such as "alright," not being a word, should be allowed -- or they should be edited to the proper two words and the story revised by the author. As a writer, I can truly appreciate the craft of brevity. And as an editor I can appreciate the discipline when the story is told within sentence structure (some are NOT -- they cheat). Some of these are startling. Some I quite frankly don't "get." Some are a kind of prose haiku. Some have a lot of subtlety, saying things without saying them. This would make a good book for writing students, to get ideas about structure and brevity and learn how to think "outside the box" of writing. I read almost all of them at least twice. It's a keeper.

"Shortest Stories of Love and Death" is one title that cannot be seen without being examined. Whatis actually inside is less scintillating, while still being a moderately entertaining read and a very good idea.

The contents have short stories, written in fewer than 55 lines and written on the subject of love, death, or both. This "prose haiku" is known as a drabble, a story of under one hundred words, and is sometimes effective in evocating certain ideas.

A lot of the stories are quite amusing, like the bizarre "Bon Appetit," wry "Fire Next Time," wink-nod drabble "Gertrude's Soliquoy" for fans of Shakespeare, wryly dark "Plan B," and the hilarious "To Air is Human." But, in a collection of many people's stories, there are also the too-weird-to-be-amusing, the grisly, and sometimes the plain dumb. "Denial on his Lips" was something I simply did not understand. "Type-A Personality" was apparently supposed to be funny, but wasn't; likewise with "Top Bananas and Rotten Apples."

Like all short story collections written by many people, this is a very mixed bag with the good and the bad intermingled. Nevertheless, if readers are in the mood for some very brief reading, they might enjoy this.