Robert Shapard and James Thomas co-edited their powerful collection of sixty flash fiction stories. Each flash intertwines with each other creating a colorful tapestry.
Book Review: New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond.
Today, the explosion of flash fiction is ubiquitous. This genre engages readers and excites the literary world because the stories are so varied, relating to human nature; each story only taking a few minutes to read. It’s popularity, and accessibility through the Internet has created not only a broader audience of readers but also new, talented writers.
The most recent anthology, edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas compiles sixty short-short stories combining elegant prose and precise language to create a dazzling new collection of flash fiction. These two astute editors searched internationally for the most exceptionally written tales. Within each short-short, elements of intrigue and surprise capture the readers' immediate attention while placing them on center stage.
Jenny Howell’s History of Everything, Including You begins as poetic fable of how the world began. Howell’s narrative depicts a woman remembering her failings. Regrets and remorse splash away carelessly in wine glasses. Forgiveness comes after years of divorce, therapy, and cigarettes.
Tessa Brown’s In Reference to your Recent Communications is a detailed account of one woman’s extreme measures to save her relationship. The flash is written in response to phone voicemails and includes damaging past information about their relationship, friends, and misbehavior written in footnotes.
We Ate the Children Last, by Yann Martel considers the consequences of a first successful animal to human transplant operation. While the human being becomes “healthy,” the environment as we comprehend it, reaches a sense of hysteria and despair. Our needs and wants for mere survival change overnight because of the possibility this operation offers mankind. Martel introduces a dark, yet, fascinating glimpse into human nature when faced with progress.
Blood, by Zdravka Etimova concocts a blood potion that serves as a panacea for any disease. Similar to Martel’s piece, her desperate tone uncovers a glimmer of human behavior in its darkest hour. Etimova writes a chilly, yet, brilliant flash by incorporating ‘economy of words’ into her piece.
My Lawrence, by Claudia Smith delineates a lonely widow’s developing relationship with her newly purchased android. As a means of comfort, she named her new android Lawrence after her deceased son. Smith’s poignant language manifests as the widow says “I lost my son a few years ago, and at first, I thought Lawrence’s childlike qualities were what made me love him. Yes, he could be my robot son.” In these modern days, we seek refuge in our computers, PDAs, cell phones, iPods, and other new devices that arrive in the market. Smith takes the extra step so that robots will have the ability to do as we command, respond accordingly, and develop emotions. The rest is speculative.
In The Palmist, by Andrew Lam an aged palmist rides on the 38 Geary bus and sees a young teenager. After a harsh, depressing day he feels compelled to read his palm. Lam’s description of the old man’s grief, the teenager’s skepticism about palmistry, and rejuvenated beliefs about possibilities creates a whimsical flash.
Within this collection, readers will enjoy reading these short-short stories. Shapard and Thomas have co-edited other flash fiction collections with equally stunning stories. If you are new to flash, beware, New Sudden Fiction may become a reading addiction. For those of you familiar with flash, Shapard and Thomas do not disappoint their readers.
Shapard and Thomas have excellent judgment in gathering these stories. They also co-edited Sudden Fiction: American Sort-Short Stories, Sudden Fiction International, Sudden Fiction (Continued) and Flash Fiction Forward.
