The Bookworm: Flash Fiction Forward

Flash Fiction Forward edited by James Thomas and Robert Shapard. 240 pages. W.W. Norton & Company. 2006.

In his book, Creative Nonfiction, Philip Gerard, in making a legitimate point about focusing any writing project, tells his students every great book can be described in a short sentence; they find this ridiculous and, challenging him, ask, “What about The Odyssey?” to which he replies, “Guy comes home from work.”

Yep — another book of short fiction. I’m all about micros lately, or at least my to-read queue is. My parents sent me both Micro Fiction and Flash Fiction Forward for my birthday way back in October. Somehow mom found my secret wish list on Amazon (or maybe I sent it to her…hmm). I rarely shop, so the list is to remind me of interesting things I find online or in bookstores, things I’m too chicken or too poor to buy when I find it.

Such was the case with Flash Fiction Forward. I saw it at Bookshop Santa Cruz in the fall of ’06. I was killing time before my writing group, browsing the shelves. Buying books was out of the question; my only employment prospects were sporadic temp jobs and all my money was earmarked for rent, food, and gas. That night, or at least sometime soon afterward, I marked it on Amazon for future reference when I had money. (I remember writing the title on my hand that night before leaving the store.)

Of course, I don’t condone buying books — or anything, for that matter — from Amazon. Buy local…or die! The only thing Amazon is good for is building and saving wish lists.

(Man. Why does Adult Swim always show lame ass anime after "The Boondocks" on Saturday nights?)

Anyway, there’s not much to say about Flash Fiction Forward. It’s the sequel to Flash Fiction, which was released in 1992. In 2007, the Thomas and Shepard team released another book of micro fiction, New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond, which I should add to my wish list for future purchase at Prairie Lights. As with my previous micro collection, the stories varied by style and subject, which is the way it should be. Also, the pieces are all short — obviously. In their introduction, the editors classify flash fiction as anything that can be read with only turning one page, so each story was either two or three pages long. However, there was one four-pager, and a piece near the end of the book spanned five or six, but it was excusable due to the theme.

Here’s one thing I didn’t expect to learn about myself by reading Flash Fiction Forward: I read too much old stuff. Whenever a narrator or character mentioned something more modern, like the internet, I thought it was out of place. People don’t write about the internet, I thought. I realized I’m stuck in Carver Country, a place populated by alcoholics and divorcees who don’t have modems or computers; all they do is drink, argue, reminisce, and make for good literature. I’ve known and criticized myself for not reading more recently printed books, especially fiction, but reading Flash Fiction Forward identified the consequences of what I’ve been doing.

New world I learned: Seriously — it’s late Saturday night (Sunday morning) and I’m a little buzzed. So fuck it. I took the picture of the book at the beach today. Be jealous.