Book Review: The World’s Shortest Stories
Editor: Steve Moss
Date: 1995
Publisher: New Times Press
ISBN: 1-880284-11-1
Length: 231 pages
Illustrations: drawings
Quote: “Pandemonium erupted. The next witness was walking through the courtroom doors. ‘Order in the court!’ the judge bellowed, cracking his gavel. All eyes focused on Tommy, who was sitting in the stand, his mouth open in shock. It was quite obvious now who’d murdered his wife. No one.”
In 1987, Steve Moss started the annual “55 Fiction” contest. Each story compresses a plot into 55 words or fewer., The genre was slow to catch on, Moss reports; the first batch of entries weren’t impressive. Over time, as people saw that this literary feat could be accomplished, the quality of entries improved. Over the years, Moss compiled enough 55-word stories he considered good to publish this collection. Horror, humor, romance, and more...like the courtroom drama quoted (in its full length) above.
There are now whole magazines, as well as anthologies, devoted to "flash fiction." This book represents the beginning of a new trend in American literature.
This book really ought to be reviewed in 55 words or fewer, but since I’ve already used more, all I’ll say is: buy a copy if you can—it won’t disappoint you.
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