Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures

by Michael Swanwick

This collection of short-short fiction by Michael Swanwick contains more than 70 stories in fewer than 100 pages. Often humorous, sometimes chilling, always entertaining, these are prime examples of a recently resurrected literary form. The title piece is a five-minute condensation of a classic of Western literature, featuring a cigar-cutter as Mephistopheles, a box of matches in the roles of Helen of Troy, an Angel of the Lord, the Light of Ontology, and a cigar as Faust himself. Swanwick's bravura imagination has resulted in a separate story for every letter of the alphabet and another set of tales for every planet in the solar system. Additionally, there is a clutch of alternate autobiographies, a novella of decadence and corporate politics in a future Venice that has been boiled down to 416 words, Picasso and Philip K. Dick as existential heroes, and a rhyme for orange.

Contents

“Cigar-Box Faust”
“Writing in My Sleep”
“An Abecedary of the Imagination”
“Eight Takes on Kindred Themes”
“Picasso Deconstructed: Eleven Still-Lifes”
“Brief Essays”
“Archaic Planets”
“The Mask”
“Letters to the Editor”
“The Madness of Gordon Van Gelder”

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Collections

94 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun collection of what we now call flash fiction from before that was a well-known label/catch phrase. There are a couple of in-joke recursive pieces for F & SF and Asimov's magazines, a bit of good poetry, but mostly what we used to call "short-shorts" or "y'know, like Fredric Brown stuff." As is essential for the success of flash works (unless you're Carmine Infantino or Gardner Fox or Dennis O'Neill, of course), Swanwick's choice of just the proper single word is almost always nonpareil, and his topics are thought-provoking, occasionally amusing, and always interesting. This is a good one to keep by your chair in front of the television and read a story or two during the commercials.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As unclasssifiable as--well, as other books by Swanwick--this book provides a number of short pieces that will have the sympathetic reader trying just one more before closing the book--and just one more turns into well, just another one, until the whole (admittedly short) book is, like a box of bonbons, finished before bedtime. Do all of them make sense? Let me know after you finish the title piece!

[John Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled upon this gem at a small used bookstore near me, and it made my rather lousy day, if not better, at least more entertaining.
It's a quick read, but every page gleams with Swanwick's brilliance. Cigar-Box Faust is now one of my favorite short pieces...and if I ever finished that English M.A., I might use the story to teach...something, I'm not sure what, but...something positive.
Not a must-have for your library unless you are a diehard Swanwick fan, but it is worth tracking down.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book to travel with again and again. Slim profile, yet packed with amusing essays, paragraphs and sentences. Some items written during dreams, some are letters back and forth to a publisher. This guy's got a blog that's alot like this book: http://floggingbabel.blogspot.com/

[Niffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I'm honest, some of the stories/essays/ponderings in this collection are not worth 5 stars. But as someone who typically doesn't enjoy short stories, I found myself enjoying a fair number of them--enough to keep me reading. Some were funny. Some were profound. Some were creepy. And some I didn't quite understand. But as a whole I feel like it's an excellent collection.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure what I was expecting, but I know it wasn’t this.

Kind of uneven, but written with so much sardonic joy that I couldn’t help but enjoy the ride.

[Rebecca Schwarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Swanwick and these were all, at the very least, diversionary, but only about half of them struck me as stories as opposed to musings. I guess they're called "Miniatures" on the cover for a reason. I enjoyed the series based on the planets. It's not his fault I'm hungry to read more plotted flash right now.

[Nesie · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/bo...

[Sureyya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever and entertaining brief stories and essays.