World's Shortest Stories of Love and Death

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.

While this clever collection of "stories" is unique, I was disappointed that the stories weren't a bit longer. I know a story is defined as having a beginning, a middle and an end, but reading these few sentences was not like reading a narrative, with a few descriptions and engaging details that causes one to pause and reflect.

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!!

These are micros - so micro that they often are not really a story at all, more of a vignette. No Hemingway gems here. They can be entertaining, but they are way too short to develop any real story. If you're into micros, this is great. Just don't be confused by the title - "Shortest stories..." because they aren't really stories. They occasionally contain some interesting thoughts, however, and a nice images, so I'm giving it a 3.

More consistently well-written stories than the original, and a more focused topic, Love and Death, which are the two most interesting concepts to write about anyway. An inspiring read that had better get you to try to write one of your own, for heaven's sake.

I use this as reading material for my aphasia clients. Aphasia is a communication disorder that sometimes impacts reading comprehension. I like that the stories are written for adults.

the book was posted at new condition and when i recieved the book it had a good amount of water damage. though all the pages were intact so the book is still readable and everything so i am still content and the price was right.

A collection of stories, limited to fifty-five words. Complete and readable stories which get the job done. Definetly not a version of War and Peace. Or a book to put under the short leg on your pool table.

翻訳版の極短小説からこちらへシフトしてきました。小説としての中身は申し分無いといえるのですが、挿絵の印刷がとにかく雑です。わざとそういう趣向なのか、残念な印刷なのかわかりませんが、翻訳版の挿絵がなかなかシンプルで良かっただけにがっかりしました。作りもさすがのペーパーバックという感じです。日本の文庫本と比べてはいけません。元の英文で読みたいの！という人には差し支えないとおもいます。