Saturday, December 8, 2018

New Micro (Extra Book)


New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction
edited by James Thomas & Robert Scotellaro

Thanks to Brandon for giving me a new book to read: New Micro – Exceptionally Short Fiction, edited by James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro.  The editors capture what they call, “the best of the best” of a relatively new genre of writing – stories that are short! The concept is that the stories bring you to a place of emotion, memory, or awakening in a “brief moment” compared to the traditional novel.  In this day and age of “get my attention fast” or lose it, the genre makes a great deal of sense.  All of the stories in the book are shorter than 300 words.  The ninety stories bring the reader to a point of recognition and then…the next story begins.  The stories in this book focus on relationships, the meaning of death, misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and silly anecdotes.  One thing I realized as I was reading (especially as a ‘speed reader’) is that one must really be “all-in” or you will need to go back and re-read the story.  While you may be able to zone out for a moment in a novel and still catch up, the micro story doesn't quite work that way!  Lesson learned: pay attention as it is really a quick moment to enjoy.  There are certainly some styles I enjoyed more than others, but love the concept, and a number of the stories were great.  It reminded me of attending the Moth events (https://themoth.org/).  Thanks again, Brandon!