- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: WW Norton (Oct 26 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0393338460
- ISBN-13: 978-0393338461
- Product Dimensions: 16.1 x 11.6 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #61,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Some of these stories suggest entire novels in just few words. So, in this small book, you have a whole library. It's reading at the speed of light.--Robert Shapard, editor of Sudden Fiction and Flash Fiction
Product Description
The stories in this collection run the gamut from playful to tragic, conservative to experimental, but they all have one thing in common: they are no more than 25 words long. Robert Swartwood was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's possibly apocryphal six-word story--"For Sale: baby shoes, never worn"--to foster the writing of these incredibly short-short stories. He termed them "hint fiction" because the few chosen words suggest a larger, more complex chain of events. Spare and evocative, these stories prove that a brilliantly honed narrative can be as startling and powerful as a story of traditional length. The 125 gemlike stories in this collection come from such best-selling and award-winning authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Ha Jin, Peter Straub, and James Frey, as well as emerging writers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Distilled Drama, Nov 14 2010
By Dan Costin - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hint Fiction (Paperback)
I've heard people say these are haikus of the short-story form, but that's not quite right: haikus aren't about drama. These stories are full of drama. Real life as well as fiction (the title lies). Death is predominant, as you'd expect when you try to get the most bang out of the smallest word count. Love, in its section, is about not-love, mostly. Except for the story about Shantell (!), p. 101, my favorite in the collection (other than my wife's, p. 109).
I've heard people voice worries that these are simple stories for short-attention-span audiences. The brevity of the stories is deceptive. Like, when you see a particularly simple abstract painting and you think any 1st grader could have done that. Just try. One indication of the difficulty of the format is how poorly the stories of famous writers--who wrote on demand, I assume--fare in comparison to the contest entries. Harness the power of crowdsourcing and you get some gems. They're not all gems, but that's OK--read a 400-page novel, and only a couple of sentences or ideas will be gems, if you're lucky.
Many of the best of these stories share a technique: they set you up to think one way but, with the last sentence, spin you around. In that moment of confusion all the pieces are up in the air; how the puzzle comes back together is your version of the story. Complete. Only a very few are purely descriptive (Gramlich, p. 37) or even just poetic (Napier, p. 44), but those are exceptions, and I would have liked to see more of that. But then perhaps they would be just the haikus of the short-story form.
There's a lot going on here. 126 stories, plus the seed in the intro, defy easy categorization. Think of the work as one, and you'll get the most concentrated dose of literature you can read.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Like a good conversation.........., Nov 16 2010
By A.M Donovan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hint Fiction (Paperback)
Just got my copy last night. Started reading, (Sorry "Chuck" had to pass up our usual date, will catch you next week) and it's like potato chips. Just can't stop with just one, and then the next thing you know, you've eaten the whole bag!
Don't skip the titles, they are an integral part of the stories!
If you are looking for something with everything spelled out for you, from the color of his eyes to the length of her hair and the age of the oak tree in the front yard, then you will hate this.
Well, raspberries to you!
But, if you like a good conversation, where you need to stretch a little and have your imagination triggered, you will really enjoy this book!
Some of these come at you straight on, and some will blind side you.
Enjoy!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hints are enough for highly creative people, Dec 6 2010
By Lillerenee - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hint Fiction (Paperback)
I am one of those people who like every little detail. I always thought condensed books were a crime against literature. I didn't expect to be anything but frustrated by a "hint" of a story. OK, I ordered the book because my daughter's submission is part of this collection. It is usually her poetry that is published so I was curious. I was surprised that I found the little blurps to be refreshing right before my eyes fell shut in my bed at night: they nudged my imagination. Rather than be annoyed, I was intrigued by the clever craftsmanship of the writers. When I ordered a book I usually would not have ordered, I found out that a lot can be said with just a "hint". It doesn't take a lot of words to provoke creative ideas. This book is a lot of fun, whether a great distraction is needed or a spurt of imagination is needed. It is, also, great the second and third time around because the hints provoke different scenarios each time they are read.
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