Search Results for: John Brantingham

Inland Empire Afternoon : John Brantingham

This novella is a tour de force of narrative manipulation. Set during an afternoon in one urban area (the Inland Empire, California) the story leaps from one resident to another in story after story, offering a highly diverse ensemble cast of over 40 characters. Virtually every flash is deftly linked to the one that precedes, […]

Clearly Defined Clouds : Jude Higgins

This brilliant new collection by Jude Higgins showcases her mastery of condensed storytelling. Subtle, nuanced, and full of depth, Clearly Defined Clouds is run through with dreams and magic, the unexpected and the playful (see the Greek god piloting a paraglider). Higgins’ characters are peculiar, intelligent, flawed, and seeking. There’s an exquisite balance of richness […]

A Learning Curve : Jan Kaneen

A Learning Curve‚ is profoundly moving and one of the best novellas-in-flash I have read. Kaneen explores the psyche and emotion of someone going through what some might see as everyday pain that many people might experience. However, the compassion of the writing allows readers to understand how extraordinary the lives we all live, are. […]

The Top Road : Fiona McKay

Fiona McKay’s debut novella-in-flash, the stunning, seductive, and gut-wrenching The Top Road, combines the lyricism of literary fiction with the palpable tension and propulsive force of a crime thriller…Written in immaculate, exquisite prose, delving deeply into themes of friendship, family, grief, and guilt, McKay’s debut is not just an extraordinary piece of fiction writing; it […]

Prodigal : Anna M Wang

“Prodigal uses the form to its full advantage. The author of this novella-in-flash understands the iceberg theory (that what we see in a brief scene can suggest a much fuller and complex reality) in a way that few writers do. The writing suggests the years of struggles it takes to become a woman, both the […]

20 Seconds during an Earthquake in Walnut, California

you’re in class when it starts and your skin tingles and you smile but the kid with the tight haircut shouts for everyone to get under the desks so you roll your eyes and say yeah sure what the hell everyone down but you have some arthritis so you stay up and this whole thing reminds you about a lecture your father gave you thirty-five years ago about how you’re not a leader and he was right so to spite Tight Haircut and your father you fold your arms and lean back against the whiteboard like you’re James Dean or Marlon Brando not that these kids are old enough to know Brando but this isn’t for them it’s for anyone who wants to know what you’re rebelling against and this stance says, “What do you got?”
by
John Brantingham
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