Sudden Fiction International: 60 Short Stories
by Robert Shapard
Readers of short-short fiction can negotiate this 300-page collection of international fiction easily within one day.
Several stories address the standard right-to-life issues and are of particular interest for the pro-life reader and
academic. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid mentions abortifacients- “An Insolvable Problem of Genetics” by Josef
Skvorecky refers to abortion as population control and suggests that a character’s lover had aborted. “Tancredi”
by Barbara Alberti and “Looking for a Rain God” by Bessie Head concern infanticide- “The Grass-Eaters” by
Krishnan Varma casually refers to infanticide. “Terminal” by Nadine Gordimer features euthanasia.
Many stories are simply delightful reads, either comical (Julio Cortazar’s “Don’t You Blame Anyone” or Ron
Carlson’s “Bigfoot Stole My Wife”) or nostalgic, manifesting the European comprehension of the importance of
one’s history (Siv Cedering’s “Family Album”). Some stories are just idiotic (Richard Brautigan’s “The Weather in
San Francisco”).
Charles Baxter’s “Introduction” is worthwhile reading for both casual reader and academic not only to understand
the history behind the short-short story, but also to explain how this category of fiction became popular in an
Internet, Facebook world.|This is a very nice international collection of short stories--excellent bedtime reading!
As in all collections, the appeal is uneven. I found three stories absolutely delightful:
- "Don't You Blame Anyone," by Julio Cortàzar, which describes in agonizing detail a man's struggle to pull a
sweater over his head
- "The Elephant," by Slawomir Mrozek, about what happened when a zoo director uses an inflatable rubber
elephant instead of a real one in order to save money
- "Bigfoot Stole My Wife," by Ron Carlson, which is essentially about credibility
- "Bigfoot Stole My Wife," by Ron Carlson, which is essentially about credibility
There are others that I admired very much, such as “The Grass-Eaters,” by Krishnan Varma and “The Verb to Kill,”
by Luisa Valenzuela. Unfortunately, there are also some that left me cold, either because of cultural differences or
my own impatience. The fault is probably mine. Still, on the strength of the ones that grabbed me, it’s a great
reading experience.|This is a big collection, 60 stories from all over the world, so it would be really something if
they got it wrong. Then again, it would be really something if they nailed every single one of them. So there's
some really good ones and some plain indifferent. It's a respectable effort because it introduces writers you may
not be aware of and the 'Afternotes' at the end is a fine introduction.
I guess it's all a matter of taste and these are my favorites:
Happy Endings - Margaret Atwood, Canada
Girl - Jamaica Kincaid, Antigua
The Other Wife - Colette, France
Welcoming The Board Of Directors - Peter Handke, Austria
Disappearing - Monica Wood, United States
Bigfoot Stole My Wife - Ron Carlson, United States
Terminal - Nadine Gordimer, South Africa
The Last Days Of A Famous Mime - Peter Carey, Australia|I was ask to read this book for my writing intensive class.
It was love at first sight after reading the first story (not really the first one on the book) 'Happy Endings'
From here on I was hooked. I couldn't wait for my professor to assign us more stories to read and when I said I
couldn't wait, I mean it! I read most of it before I was even ask to.
Some of my top favorite stories are:
The Grasshopper and the bell cricket.
The elephant.
Lost Keys.
Theres a man with the habit of hitting me in the head with an umbrella.
I recommend this book to my friends who dont like to read but feel like they should. To people who love short
stories or are trying to fall in love with them! and just to those of us who love to read but don't have enough time
for novels! :)|Read it in high school, then again in college, and was surprised how many stories I remember just
from the titles. My memory's generally awful so this amazed me.