Rating: 
Summary: Provides a true "theatre of the mind" listening experience
Review: The World's Shortest Stories Of Love And Death is an outstanding, unabridged, two audio cassette collection of superbly narrated short stories (one just 55 words in length) with the themes of passion, suspicion, betrayal, murder and revenge. The impressive roster of seasoned authors include such notable writers as Norman Lear, Charles Schulz, Barnaby Conrad, and Larry Niven. Supported by flawless production values, the narrators, Alyssa Bresnahan, Laura Hamilton and Jeff Woodman provide a true "theatre of the mind" listening experience. The World's Shortest Stories Of Love And Death is a highly recommended acquisition for personal and community library audiobook collections, and a "must" for fans of the short story mystery format.
Rating:
Summary: Bet you can't read just one!
Review: This is a follow-up to the remarkable "The World's Shortest Stories." Each of these stories must contain 55 words or fewer, and the editors have rules that supposedly ensure that this 55 rule is obeyed. I don't think, however, that misspellings such as "alright," not being a word, should be allowed -- or they should be edited to the proper two words and the story revised by the author. As a writer, I can truly appreciate the craft of brevity. And as an editor I can appreciate the discipline when the story is told within sentence structure (some are NOT -- they cheat). Some of these are startling. Some I quite frankly don't "get." Some are a kind of prose haiku. Some have a lot of subtlety, saying things without saying them. This would make a good book for writing students, to get ideas about structure and brevity and learn how to think "outside the box" of writing. I read almost all of them at least twice. It's a keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: Significantly better than its predecessor - genre's grown up
Review: This is an anthology of an artificial genre - stories of 55 words or less. In this genre, if the story is truly to be a narrative, there is no room for wasted words or mistakes. The previous volume was about one third stories that seemed to fit the form rather than being squeezed into the form. In this anthology fully three-fourths seem natural.One type of story that works very well are those that are based on familiar stories - Hamlet, Adam and Eve, nursery rhymes; these have an extended background that serves as an assumed part of the story. Some would be gimicks in lesser hands - the story presented as a recipe, another Adam and Eve play. Several are wonderful plays on expectations - Temptation by Eric Sandberg and Chris Hansen where truth is truer than expected or The Masterpiece by Karen Robles where the arsonist's love of fire is carried to its logical conclusion. The form still is a bit of a gimick when one story after another meets the 55 word limit, but many of these stories would be recognized as solid stories if intermingled with stories of other sizes.
Rating:
Summary: Significantly better than its predecessor - genre's grown up
Review: This is an anthology of an artificial genre - stories of 55 words or less. In this genre, if the story is truly to be a narrative, there is no room for wasted words or mistakes. The previous volume was about one third stories that seemed to fit the form rather than being squeezed into the form. In this anthology fully three-fourths seem natural. One type of story that works very well are those that are based on familiar stories - Hamlet, Adam and Eve, nursery rhymes; these have an extended background that serves as an assumed part of the story. Some would be gimicks in lesser hands - the story presented as a recipe, another Adam and Eve play. Several are wonderful plays on expectations - Temptation by Eric Sandberg and Chris Hansen where truth is truer than expected or The Masterpiece by Karen Robles where the arsonist's love of fire is carried to its logical conclusion. The form still is a bit of a gimick when one story after another meets the 55 word limit, but many of these stories would be recognized as solid stories if intermingled with stories of other sizes.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked good!
Review: This sweet little collection of very humorous,sad, and horrific(and that is in just one story)short stories is a lot of fun to read.Just like pistachio nuts...can't stop at one...so I read it all in one sitting...which isn't difficult of course!I'm buying the rest in the series today. Remember: This is no huge novel filled with profound thoughts on every page. This is a little tiny book,filled with profound thoughts on every page!So chill out and accept it for what it is: A fun read...most of the time...and keep an eye out for sadness just around the corner.
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