Rating: 
Summary: Better than 55 words or less, better than micro fiction ...
Review: The stories in flash fiction read as though their diminutive size came naturally; these are stories that were printed without regard to their size but have been reprinted because of their size. Unfortunately, many of the stories would be more satisfying within a mix of story sizes ... the stories are simply shorter than one's mind switches between stories. The anthology is a standard mix of stories that have strong appeal, are technically fine but "don't speak to me", and those you wonder why they were printed. Personal favorites:The Corporal by Carolyn Forche, I first read as a prose poem. This story speaks strongly to the mentality behind repressive governments - a theme strong in much of Forche's work. Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is a story that shows the creativity of Kincaid (best illustrated by At the Bottom of the River) that speaks in an unusual way to the relationship between a girl and her mother ... and her mother's expectations. Bread by Margaret Atwood may not exactly be a narrative but again it is a strong piece regarding social justice in a variety of forms. Subtotals by Gregory Burnham is an interesting evaluation of life by enumeration - a clever idea well executed that left me less than satisfied. The Haircut by Mary Morris is a story in which non-verbal communication in an intimate relationship is well used; still I found the story only interesting. Spencer Holst's Brilliant Silence is a brilliant story of dancing bears deserted by their owner but still dancing. Richard Shelton's The Stones is another brilliant story built on a premise of stones having life of a sort. Adrienne Clasky's From the Floodlands explores a setting so wet that one can drown in the air, that the sky and the sea merge as the horozin fails to delinate the line between them. Other tales may catch your attention; there is sufficient variety that nearly everyone should fine some stories to their liking.
Rating:
Summary: Better than 55 words or less, better than micro fiction ...
Review: The stories in flash fiction read as though their diminutive size came naturally; these are stories that were printed without regard to their size but have been reprinted because of their size. Unfortunately, many of the stories would be more satisfying within a mix of story sizes ... the stories are simply shorter than one's mind switches between stories. The anthology is a standard mix of stories that have strong appeal, are technically fine but "don't speak to me", and those you wonder why they were printed. Personal favorites: The Corporal by Carolyn Forche, I first read as a prose poem. This story speaks strongly to the mentality behind repressive governments - a theme strong in much of Forche's work. Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is a story that shows the creativity of Kincaid (best illustrated by At the Bottom of the River) that speaks in an unusual way to the relationship between a girl and her mother ... and her mother's expectations. Bread by Margaret Atwood may not exactly be a narrative but again it is a strong piece regarding social justice in a variety of forms. Subtotals by Gregory Burnham is an interesting evaluation of life by enumeration - a clever idea well executed that left me less than satisfied. The Haircut by Mary Morris is a story in which non-verbal communication in an intimate relationship is well used; still I found the story only interesting. Spencer Holst's Brilliant Silence is a brilliant story of dancing bears deserted by their owner but still dancing. Richard Shelton's The Stones is another brilliant story built on a premise of stones having life of a sort. Adrienne Clasky's From the Floodlands explores a setting so wet that one can drown in the air, that the sky and the sea merge as the horozin fails to delinate the line between them. Other tales may catch your attention; there is sufficient variety that nearly everyone should fine some stories to their liking.
Rating: 
Summary: A whole different way to tell stories.
Review: We've gotten used to the way stories are written - with a beginning, a middle and an end, usually with detailed plot and characterization. The point of these tales is to create something different - a description of a moment of realization, an entire life described through a series of lists, strange tales with twists, showing the estrangement of a couple through bits and pieces of their conversation (and all with so few words!!) They seem like something between stories and poetry.
Rating:
Summary: A whole different way to tell stories.
Review: We've gotten used to the way stories are written - with a beginning, a middle and an end, usually with detailed plot and characterization. The point of these tales is to create something different - a description of a moment of realization, an entire life described through a series of lists, strange tales with twists, showing the estrangement of a couple through bits and pieces of their conversation (and all with so few words!!) They seem like something between stories and poetry.
Rating:
Summary: flash review:
Review: wonderful -- just like everything else the editors have done with their SUDDEN FICTION series, only briefer -- this inspires, annoys, eggs on insomnia and generally provokes much recurrent thought into the alien physiology of the current notion of narrative. I was almost tempted to use that overused word 'pithy' -- but I didn't. Well worth double the price, I've read it at least a dozen times and still always learn something intersting.
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