World's Shortest Stories Of Love And Death (Paperback)

~ Steve Hall (Author) "She loved him..." (more)
Key Phrases: Were Dying, Death of Love, Life After Death (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The perfect gift for those who claim to be too busy to read. For the rest of us, these stories are like literary canapes... Irresistible."Sue Grafton -- Sue Grafton --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Description

Building on the enormously successful World's Shortest Stories, here's an all-new collection of super-short fiction-each story a mere 55 words long! With nearly 150 contributors, including Charles Schulz and Fannie Flagg, these stories offer love, betrayal, passion, and death-in less time than it takes to count the words in this blurb!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (March 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762406984
• ISBN-13: 978-0762406982
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,091 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Concept!, November 4, 2001

By	Jodi "languagejunkie" (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

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!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wicked good!, January 2, 2004

By	ellafan (MI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a lot in a few words, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

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.