Sudden Fiction International: 60 Short-Short Stories

by Robert Shapard (Editor), James Thomas

“ Sudden Fiction International is even better than its predecessor. It's a fine teaching tool, a good gift, it's Around-the-World-in-Sixty-Stories, with many surprises, new friends, old friends, almost every stop a brief wonder in itself.” ―Alan Cheuse

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Literary Fiction, School, Read For School, Literature

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Paul Bryant]

Aside from hair raising scraps from Jamaica Kincaid and Bessie Head and hilarious cynicism from Margaret Atwood this is a collection of gnomic pebbles from a distant clogged beach. I am a short story fan but these very short stories are jokes without punchlines and strange directions without a map. There’s a reason songs are three minutes long. The shortest song to get to number one was Stay by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs – 1:38.

[Tim]

Short-short fiction had an in-vogue period back in the late 80s-early 90s, when every bookstore and literary magazine seemed to be touting it. I haven't studied this question, but my guess is that these days short fiction is still popular, but that very short pieces are no longer the flavor of the month. Personally, I think the style has its merits, and can provide quick intense snapshots of things - but if it is good it leaves you wanting more.

Anyway, this is a worthy collection of short pieces collected from all around the globe. The USA probably has the most items in here, but many nations across the globe are represented, sometimes by prominent writers and sometimes not. To be honest, I can't say I was deeply moved by much here, but that could be due more to the nature of a collection like this than to the quality of the writing. Once you begin getting into the mood and style of a writer's work, all of a sudden the piece ends and you are on a different continent and listening to a very different voice.

Looking at what other Goodreaders have to say, it seems like we all have different favorites from this grab-bag. Here are a few of mine: R.K. Narayan's story about a grumpy ascetic who lives across the lane from a woman of ill repute had a nice twist at the end. Monica Wood's "Disappearing", a mysterious piece about a fat woman who begins swimming a lot in a public pool and starts getting thinner and thinner. Jeanette Winterson's intense, surreal piece got my full attention. She mixes together elements of classic myths and contemporary attitude and feminism. Big names like Nadine Gordimer and Donald Barthelme make interesting contributions; hers a dark tale of a sick, suicidal woman and his an amusing look at a classroom where everything they deal with seems to die tragically. I also liked J. Bernlef's realistic, suspenseful tale of a boy whose father is attacked by rabid dog.

[Stephen Gallup]

This is a very nice international collection of short stories--excellent bedtime reading!

As in all collections, the appeal is uneven. I found three stories absolutely delightful:

- "Don't You Blame Anyone," by Julio Cortàzar, which describes in agonizing detail a man's struggle to pull a sweater over his head

- "The Elephant," by Slawomir Mrozek, about what happened when a zoo director uses an inflatable rubber elephant instead of a real one in order to save money

- "Bigfoot Stole My Wife," by Ron Carlson, which is essentially about credibility

There are others that I admired very much, such as “The Grass-Eaters,” by Krishnan Varma and “The Verb to Kill,” by Luisa Valenzuela. Unfortunately, there are also some that left me cold, either because of cultural differences or my own impatience. The fault is probably mine. Still, on the strength of the ones that grabbed me, it’s a great reading experience.

[Lyzette Wanzer]

As I've mentioned in other reviews, I'm a huge sudden fiction fan. I write, publish, and teach the form, and I'm pretty certain I've read all of the Shapard and Thomas anthologies. I've read this collection more than once, and my favorite is Buzzati's "The Falling Girl." You will encounter a bevy of other authors whom you may not associate with short-shorts: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar, Joyce Carol Oates, Italo Calvino, Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer.

[Alan]

1991 notebook: Outstanding stories, Trancedi (the Two headed baby), Babel's Di Grasso, the South American one about potatoes. Wonderful book.

[Jaclyn]

An excellent collection of international short fiction. A quick read & I highly recommend.

[Shaghayegh.l3]

روزهایی که کتاب خاصی برای خوندن نداشتم ظهرها و عصرها یکی-دو داستان از این کتاب می‌خوندم و به سبک لترباکسد، ته هر قصه از پنج ستاره امتیاز می‌دادم. داستان‌هایی که فکر نمی‌کنم یادم بمونه، اما یادداشت‌های کوتاهم احتمالاً بعدها برم می‌گردونه به این دوران.

[Ed Erwin]

Reading one of these each morning is better than playing Wordle.

[McKenna R]

I finally finished this book! It took me over a year. To be fair, it’s a collection of individual short-short fiction, so I couldn’t really lose the thread of a main storyline. Some of these stories were really good, some were disturbing, some were just okay, and some were so confusing. Overall it’s a good little collection of short stories, with authors such as Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino, and many others.

[William Baker]

A wonderful international selection whose 37 stories I liked, of which these 5 I enjoyed the most:
Kenneth Bernard (USA), "Preparations"
Ron Carlson (USA), "Bigfoot Stole My Wife"
Paulé Bartón (Haiti), "Emilie Plead Choose One Egg"
Fernando Sorrentino (Argentina), "There Is a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella"
Bai Xiao-yi (China), "The Explosion in the Parlour"

[Jakob]

A bit up-and-down, as one would expect -- not one gem after the other like a string of pearls -- but some of the stories really hit. Overall, I really enjoyed the concept and will check out some of the other collections.

[Bri]

Some of these are great, some not so much

[Emmie]

With 60 stories, there are bound to be some here that don't appeal to everyone. Unfortunately, I was still hoping for a few more stand-outs. That said, it's still incredibly hard to give a 'fair' star rating by virtue of it being such a diverse anthology.

Maybe the 40+ years since its original publication is the reason why so many of these went over my head and/or didn't land, but aside from Atwood, Holst, Dybek, Wood and Ioannides, I remember little and enjoyed less.

I love flash fiction--will advocate for it until my last breath--but the majority of these felt annoyingly insubstantial at best and navel-gazey at worst.

[ellie]

this is a collection of really intimate and experimental pieces from all kinds of corners of the world, and when assembled it creates a weight that refuses to leave my shoulders. Some of the stories are action-packed and yet so non-descriptive that you have to read them several times to grasp their impact; others are crushing, unsettling or erotic despite describing seemingly mundane events. This book makes me feel more human xx

[Helen]

I really enjoyed the international-ness of the book, with authors from Italy, Wales, Argentina, Austria, and many more places! The stories varied in ratings, with 5 1's, 16 2's, 22 3's, 7 4's, and 9 5's out of 5.
My favorite stories were: At the River, Welcoming the Board of Directors, The School, The Shoe Breaker, Looking for a Rain God, Tancredi, On Hope, and The Grass-Eaters!

[Nicolás Rodríguez Sanabria]

Hay de todo.

[HoneyBakedAmbs]

Mixed bag. A handful of excellent stories but mostly just OK (IMO). All very short, as promised! My favorite was the one with the shark and the diamond.

[Treasure Island Books]

I'm a big fan of flash fiction, but this collection contains the most depressing short stories I've ever encountered. Not recommended.

[Dawn]

so fuckin weird

[Jeff Koloze]

Readers of short-short fiction can negotiate this 300-page collection of international fiction easily within one day. Several stories address the standard right-to-life issues and are of particular interest for the pro-life reader and academic. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid mentions abortifacients; “An Insolvable Problem of Genetics” by Josef Skvorecky refers to abortion as population control and suggests that a character’s lover had aborted. “Tancredi” by Barbara Alberti and “Looking for a Rain God” by Bessie Head concern infanticide; “The Grass-Eaters” by Krishnan Varma casually refers to infanticide. “Terminal” by Nadine Gordimer features euthanasia.

Many stories are simply delightful reads, either comical (Julio Cortazar’s “Don’t You Blame Anyone” or Ron Carlson’s “Bigfoot Stole My Wife”) or nostalgic, manifesting the European comprehension of the importance of one’s history (Siv Cedering’s “Family Album”). Some stories are just idiotic (Richard Brautigan’s “The Weather in San Francisco”).

Charles Baxter’s “Introduction” is worthwhile reading for both casual reader and academic not only to understand the history behind the short-short story, but also to explain how this category of fiction became popular in an Internet, Facebook world.

[Lucynell]

This is a big collection, 60 stories from all over the world, so it would be really something if they got it wrong. Then again, it would be really something if they nailed every single one of them. So there's some really good ones and some plain indifferent. It's a respectable effort because it introduces writers you may not be aware of and the 'Afternotes' at the end is a fine introduction.

I guess it's all a matter of taste and these are my favorites:

Happy Endings - Margaret Atwood, Canada
Girl - Jamaica Kincaid, Antigua
The Other Wife - Colette, France
Welcoming The Board Of Directors - Peter Handke, Austria
Disappearing - Monica Wood, United States
Bigfoot Stole My Wife - Ron Carlson, United States
Terminal - Nadine Gordimer, South Africa
The Last Days Of A Famous Mime - Peter Carey, Australia

[Laura]

I was ask to read this book for my writing intensive class. It was love at first sight after reading the first story (not really the first one on the book) 'Happy Endings'
From here on I was hooked. I couldn't wait for my professor to assign us more stories to read and when I said I couldn't wait, I mean it! I read most of it before I was even ask to.
Some of my top favorite stories are:
The Grasshopper and the bell cricket.
The elephant.
Lost Keys.
Theres a man with the habit of hitting me in the head with an umbrella.
I recommend this book to my friends who dont like to read but feel like they should. To people who love short stories or are trying to fall in love with them! and just to those of us who love to read but don't have enough time for novels! :)

[Dana]

This is really an great collection of short stories. I wish I had it in front of me right now, because there are definitely a few that stand alone (unfortunately, my knack for recalling details isn't what it should be). I remember one short story in particular about a group of kids that steal their dad's/parent's heads and run off playing with them on. It was so enchanting. Granted, some of the stories leave a lot to be desired, but putting together a collection of short stories by international authors is a feat to pull off. Overall, I think they were successful with this one.

[Jackie]

I love this collection of stories. Two of my favorites are "On Hope" by Spencer Holst and the "The grasshopper and the bell cricket" by Kawabata. I carried this book in my backpack, along with everything else, during college so that I could grab a quick blast of literature between classes in nursing school. It was the perfect mental palate cleanser between Anatomy/Physiology and Pharmacology.

[Leeda]

Over ten years later, and I still vividly remember several of the stories from this stellar collection. The bad luck necklace, the sad little boy with his blackberries in his new cap, and Margaret Atwood's insistence that happy endings just depend upon when you end the story... this book is full of such wonderful stories and memories.

[Lucysnow1851]

Flash fiction, a fiction of extreme brevity, less than 1000 words. Because they are so short, they are poignant and memorable, and this collection of 60 short stories is from many countries, Botswana, Haiti, Cyprus and New Zealand. My favorite was from Canada, Margaret Atwood, "Happy Endings" a story with many endings, which you can choose your own.

[Eric McLean]

Meh. It was ok. I don't think I really like international contemporary fiction for the most part. These stories were just weird and mostly pointless. Breaking the "rules" of creative writing can be great, but for most of these stories it was done to be different and separate from what I would consider modern fiction. There were a few good stories, but mostly this left me feeling uninspired.

[Denis]

Three stars as in, 'I liked it', but am disappointed in that I felt indifferent towards too many of the stories. My favourite of the series is still, New Sudden Fiction. It now contains way more sticky notes than the others in the collection.

[Vincent]

I really enjoy the short short method. Usually 2-6 pages. The first story, "The Falling Girl" was my favorite, although I found about 8 more stories in contention. The international contributions made opening the book for the next story always a new adventure. Enjoy!

[Lise]

There were some five-star firecrackers in this package! And a few duds.