Monday, March 24, 2008

Book Review: Very Short Stories for Harried Readers by Vicente Garcia Groyon

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free book reviews.

I'm not really a fan of flash fiction so I didn't really expect this anthology to convince me otherwise although I was curious. Barely exceeding one hundred pages and featuring forty-one stories, the first thing that comes to mind is whether the price (P290 or $7.00) is worth it. Also included in the anthologies are some line art which honestly aren't really that great (I could have, uh, drawn them myself). Not helping the packaging is a dubious pink cover (or maybe the book cover does appeal to its target market). However, as far as the stories go, Groyon raises the bar on flash fiction as while these stories are quick reads, they are also quite sophisticated and have depth lacking in many stories, flash fiction or otherwise. You won't find stories that tell you the ending outright as some are ambiguous while others try to leave an impression on you. This is easily the thinking man's fast-food fiction anthology and features a diverse set of authors. If you're a fan of this kind of fiction, you might want to give the book a try. Otherwise, I honestly think shelling out P290 is too high a price for such material (or better yet, borrow a friend's copy).

Rating: 2.5/5.

Rating System:

1 - There are better ways to spend your time.
2 - Ho hum books, usually typical of its genre. Probably only recommendable to die-hard fans.
3 - A cut above the rest, usually with one or more elements that sets it apart from the norm.
4 - Highly recommended and is easily a pioneer of the genre.
5 - A classic or it will be.

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