Flash Fiction America: 73 Very Short Stories

Thomas, Flick, and Dufresne’s elegant anthology brims with economical, well-crafted prose. “Origin Lessons” by Aimee Bender depicts a teacher grappling with how to impart Darwin’s concept of evolution to young students. Stuart Dybek’s “Bruise” cracks open a turning point for two people about to begin an affair, when one shows the other her bruise. In Molly Giles’s “My X,” the narrator confesses that she left her husband because he would put off completing his sentences (“ ‘I think I’ll go,’ he’d say and I’d chip in with a hopeful ‘to the store,’ only to hear him say, ‘to India’ ”). In Amy Stuber’s “I’m on the Side of the Wildebeest,” a mother watches her teenage daughter while reflecting on what she herself was like as a young woman and realizes her daughter is stronger. Alyssa Proujansky’s strange and poignant “Sink Monkey” depicts a woman recovering from a miscarriage from a pregnancy she hadn’t wanted while watching a video of a monkey being cared for by a woman. Throughout, the authors craft distinctive glimpses of their characters’ worlds within the span of a page or two. This showcases a multitude of talent. (Feb.)