Reviews

New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction by Robert Scotellaro, James Thomas

sunn_bleach's review

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

I’m quite charmed by this collection of stories all under 300 words. Some authors in this collection already show mastery, knowing how to choose their words as carefully as possible to imply memoria, lurking horror, or sudden twist. There is a preponderance of “cheating spouse” stories, which I expect would be the easiest to write in this format. But the haunting ones are QUITE haunting, and the successfully funny ones have me still thinking about the form of a short story days later.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, and Sexual content

moodreader89's review

5.0

To those who complain they were disappointed because this book is a collection of older writing, I say: read the Foreward. It literally explains it’s a guide through the pathways that have lead to micro fiction being considered a category of skilled writing today. I do wish they labeled the years on the pieces’ actual pages, but the list in the back is great too.

I love micro and flash fiction and this book helped educate me on writers I had not heard of, and gave me poignant stories that drew many emotions out in small spaces of time. It was a delight to read and I would definitely recommend it as an introduction for those who aren’t familiar with the category overall, or students looking to study tone and what micro fiction “really does”: however they want to interpret that.

margauxreadit's review

medium-paced

4.5

eisforernest's review

fast-paced

4.0