Sudden Fiction: American Short Stories

~It's a great book to have. You can read it on the subway and chew on a few stories in one transit, or just scan the beginnings and look for what catches your eye, or you can curl up on a rainy day and devour the whole book. It's a great way to meet many writers you've heard of but haven't yet read. The only problem is the editor had this in mind so some writers, I presume, were selected because of who they were not what they wrote. Some pieces are vignettes more than "Sudden Fiction." Conversely, some stories are just marvelous: have no wasted words, tightly woven plots, and compelling characters. These stories are a marvel to see and a must for anyone interested in fiction. It's incredible how much depth is possible in such a short space. If you've ever tried to write this book will impress you with how much the right word is essential. Mark Twain once said "the difference between the right word and almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." Here is lightning-or is it the bug?-bottled up.

humans have been telling tales for > two millennia; and in the latest two centuries, Americans have been busy in the genre. this © 1986 collection echoes 70 prose tidbits by 70 American authors -- a coverage designedly thin and narrow. Still, I found a dozen outstanding; and I am confident you will find at least a (perhaps different) dozen outstanding also. ¶ although many of these tales are American only in the most trivial sense, some are identifiably American. most are located in America but not tellingly so. all are modern. do these editors suppose that very brief fiction did not become gripping until a few decades ago? in 1962 Popular Library published `The World's Shortest Stories' @ $.40 -- a marvelous collection, including mostly tales from long ago and far away. -- and oh btw, must fiction exclude poetry?

Some of these short stories are so off the wall; I love them! I've never been a short-story person and this book (purchased for a college class) has me hooked. My class only required a small handful of stories but I've read most of them, on my own, by now. It was fun to see writers that I recognized writing in alternate styles from some of their well-known work. I think The Hit Man might be my favorite.

Some pleasant surprises by some lesser-known authors, while some of the better known authors seem to stray from the style that made me a fan, however they still managed to entertain me and keep me interested. A fine collection of sudden fiction and a very fun and informative look in the "Introduction" about the amount of thought involved in the naming of this new genre, and therefore this book.

This is a great book for people who write fiction or just enjoy it. As it indicates, the stories are very short, and sometimes challenging in interpretation so critical reading skills improve. Foremost, it is enjoyable reading. The rest is just the unexpected quality. It certainly helped my writing.

Sudden Fiction is a great textbook for my English class.I read a lot of good American short stories from different writers of yesteryears.Added to that,it was also nice to learn of different styles of writings by great American writers.

The condition of this book was great! There was only a few words written behind the cover page and on tthe inside of the back page. Who cares about that! Not one underlining or high lighting throughout the whole book! Of course, I liked some stories more than others but this book arrived in a Barnes & Noble, off the shelf condition. Fast shipping too!

Good condition well kept