Short
An International Anthology of Five Centuries of Short-Short Stories, Prose Poems, Brief Essays, and Other Short Prose Forms
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Short offers the tradition and glorious present of these popular forms that stretch and defy genre. From 1500 to present, hundreds of pieces. Inventive, entertaining, and addictive.
Short prose forms are elusive to define--one writer's prose poem is another's flash fiction or brief essay. Rather than quibble, Short opts for inclusiveness. Here is a dazzling array: 100s of pieces (under 1250 words) from 24 Western countries, written over five centuries by more than 200 contributors, including major authors of every era. Fables, histories, aphorisms, anecdotes, faux dictionary entries, a faux job application, hint fiction, lists, tableaus, meditations, chants, rants, and much more. Intensely pleasurable.
Contributors include: Montaigne, von Kleist, Leopardi, Poe, Baudelaire, Bierce, Chopin, Stein, Jacob, Woolf, Kafka, J. Roth, Toomer, Borges, Queneau, Kunitz, Beckett, Milosz, Cortazar, Paz, Barthes, Calvino, O'Hara, Merwin, Lispector, Transtromer, Sanchez, Edson, Simic, Atwood, Valenzuela, Wideman, L. Davis, Komunyakaa, A. Carson, Forche, Harjo, Hempel, Wenderoth, Keret, B. Marcus, A. Bender, Eggers, B. Lerner, T. Brimhall.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ziegler, a professor of writing at Columbia University, collects hundreds of short pieces, all under 1,250 words, in this handy anthology of Western writing. Ziegler's introduction draws attention to a genre-bending phenomenon at play in short form literature, but he actively resists defining its characteristics. Rather, his primary interest is showcasing short form in its many variants for readers to explore. Organized chronologically by author's birth, the selection spans over five centuries. Among the entries, Raymond Queneau offers a choose-your-own-adventure story, while Phillip Lopate's essay recounts an encounter with a kind stranger. Some entries, such as Lydia Davis and Jules Renard, are only a few sentences long. Others riff on mundane forms such as Robert Walser piece that reads like a cover letter. When it comes to author selection, the collection proves much less diverse and at times uneven. The first half offers little variety in terms of gender and race, whereas the second half draws primarily from within the United States. The book will appeal primarily to writing students intrigued by form and eager to learn by example.
