What do you think?
Rate this book
Fragile Boundaries: A Flash Fiction and Short Stories Collection
R.E Vaughn's Fragile Boundaries is a collection of fifteen short fiction pieces, each an unsettling but realistic glimpse through the window of other people's lives. Readers will find this new and upcoming author's daring and provocative stories more character driven than plot intensive, with an emphasis on the imperfections of the human dynamic, placing ordinary people in unusual yet believable situations and settings, some dark and malevolent, others light and humorous, all undeniably interesting. Inside you'll find a reader favorite "Lambs Shouldn't Mess with Lions," a bruising memory about young people in a southern high school who love and hate like crazy, set in a time when grievances were settled with fists and not guns, by a generation then just as vulnerable to all the temptations and dreams as teens of today; "Joy Ride," a journey of discovery for a couple in a dying relationship that can't be rescued; and "How To Set A Woman On Fire," in which a young mother, recently widowed, lets known her priorities to the man relentlessly pursuing her affection. Writing in the voice of characters readers aren't likely soon to forget, R.E. Vaughn offers a unique view in the everyday lives and dreams of totally ordinary people in situations not so ordinary.
134 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 6, 2020
About the author
R.E. Vaughn
5 books14 followersFeral Writer | Book Fiend | Southerner | Veteran | Pilot | Mad Scientist | All Around Stubborn Person
I write Contemporary Realistic Literature Flash Fiction and Short Stories. The angst and issues of living in a less-than-perfect world predominate throughout my works.
A Southerner by virtue of ancestry, birth, and choice, I've also lived in Europe, and for a short time on the Big Island of Hawaii. I currently make my home in the South, not far from the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, and the beaches of South Carolina.
An avid reader, I prefer the works of Leslie Pietrzyk, Hillary Jordan, Pinckney Benedict, Chanelle Benz, Tim McLaurin, A.M.Homes, Richard Russo, Donald Hall, Raymond Carver, Lauren Groff, Gretel Ehrlich, Daniel Woodrell.
I write Contemporary Realistic Literature Flash Fiction and Short Stories. The angst and issues of living in a less-than-perfect world predominate throughout my works.
A Southerner by virtue of ancestry, birth, and choice, I've also lived in Europe, and for a short time on the Big Island of Hawaii. I currently make my home in the South, not far from the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, and the beaches of South Carolina.
An avid reader, I prefer the works of Leslie Pietrzyk, Hillary Jordan, Pinckney Benedict, Chanelle Benz, Tim McLaurin, A.M.Homes, Richard Russo, Donald Hall, Raymond Carver, Lauren Groff, Gretel Ehrlich, Daniel Woodrell.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 27, 2020
The amount of realism in some of the stories stays with you 3.5 stars
It's been a while since I've read a short story collection, which when I do, I usually enjoy.
This collection, while clearly well thought out, was a wierd menagerie of bite size snippets of shitty life moments that felt like a bit too much realism. I even stopped after the second story to google flash fiction to make sure I understood what it was.
Fragile Boundaries has a good mixture of different genres.
The stories give you a very narrow glimpse of a character's life in which an action has happened or is going to happen that guides the story and how they respond. Its mostly things that could have happened to any of us. But, the author has somehow trapped you while reading. In each story you are in there with each character, feeling their very well written and developed thoughts and actions. Whether you want to be in there or not. Some of the stories feel like hard boiled writing shoved into a flash fiction, short story compilation. The stories weren't bad, nor could I rave about the book as a whole. While I have read other works where they give you that Twilight Zone kind of lead up before the story, it just served to kind of irritate me. Like the author didn't think I would get the story. But to be honest because of the narrowness of the timeline in most of the stories, that sliver of space between the boards to look through at each take, it was admittedly useful.
This is why I gave the book 3.5 stars.
I wasn't really a fan of this collection and there were a few edits needed. The last story really got under my skin because of what is going on right now IRL, but honestly I never enjoy reading stories like that, no matter what type of spin you put on it.
And for the bonus, some of these stories seem like they actually may have happened, which is great writing skill, when you can get your audience to believe your writing as a possibility.
There were 2 stories that I really liked. Eight Hours was my absolute favorite... mostly because of how it was written ( spoiler alert...sad) and A Dark Place in the Night because it was unexpected and seemed satisfyingly complete and you fooled me author R.E. Vaughn...well done. I liked that the whole issue was so typical of a lot of people in today's society, the author has you looking one way.....but .... what's really going on in the other direction.....you will have to read this book for yourself.
If you read for escapism and HEAs I can tell you this is not it... but its worth a read for yourself.
The stories will feel familiar. Kind of mean and bitter, a little Harsh, make you think. They will make you a tad uncomfortable and there is an undeniable underlying bit of sadness laced throughout the book. Happy Reading and Enjoy!
It's been a while since I've read a short story collection, which when I do, I usually enjoy.
This collection, while clearly well thought out, was a wierd menagerie of bite size snippets of shitty life moments that felt like a bit too much realism. I even stopped after the second story to google flash fiction to make sure I understood what it was.
Fragile Boundaries has a good mixture of different genres.
The stories give you a very narrow glimpse of a character's life in which an action has happened or is going to happen that guides the story and how they respond. Its mostly things that could have happened to any of us. But, the author has somehow trapped you while reading. In each story you are in there with each character, feeling their very well written and developed thoughts and actions. Whether you want to be in there or not. Some of the stories feel like hard boiled writing shoved into a flash fiction, short story compilation. The stories weren't bad, nor could I rave about the book as a whole. While I have read other works where they give you that Twilight Zone kind of lead up before the story, it just served to kind of irritate me. Like the author didn't think I would get the story. But to be honest because of the narrowness of the timeline in most of the stories, that sliver of space between the boards to look through at each take, it was admittedly useful.
This is why I gave the book 3.5 stars.
I wasn't really a fan of this collection and there were a few edits needed. The last story really got under my skin because of what is going on right now IRL, but honestly I never enjoy reading stories like that, no matter what type of spin you put on it.
And for the bonus, some of these stories seem like they actually may have happened, which is great writing skill, when you can get your audience to believe your writing as a possibility.
There were 2 stories that I really liked. Eight Hours was my absolute favorite... mostly because of how it was written ( spoiler alert...sad) and A Dark Place in the Night because it was unexpected and seemed satisfyingly complete and you fooled me author R.E. Vaughn...well done. I liked that the whole issue was so typical of a lot of people in today's society, the author has you looking one way.....but .... what's really going on in the other direction.....you will have to read this book for yourself.
If you read for escapism and HEAs I can tell you this is not it... but its worth a read for yourself.
The stories will feel familiar. Kind of mean and bitter, a little Harsh, make you think. They will make you a tad uncomfortable and there is an undeniable underlying bit of sadness laced throughout the book. Happy Reading and Enjoy!
May 27, 2020
Fragile Boundaries by R.E. Vaughn is a collection of short stories that explore different characters in some of the most revealing moments of their lives. Each story provides a taste of different periods and lives along with the ways the main characters choose to handle the challenges they face. The voice of each character is distinct, as they vary in gender, age, and life experiences and Vaughn does a good job of putting the reader into the headspace of each. Although perhaps not the most experimental of short story collections, each story is important in how it shaped the character’s lives.
At first glance, some of the stories seemed run-of-the-mill, sharing how a woman decides to leave her husband or a family coping with their secrets. As I read on, I realized they felt this way only because they were stories that I am familiar with, either from having experienced them or in other literature.
Each piece is a moment plucked from a character’s life that they would likely never share publicly, let alone to their closest confidants. They are the events in their lives that shape them forever, even if they seemed insignificant at the time. Perhaps it was setting foot on a new course in life, witnessing (or causing) a horrible event, or a time that foreshadowed larger implications later. Readers are sure to identify with some of the stories, and others will reveal what it is to a complicated human and deal with the choices we make and the emotions that come with them.
My personal favorites of the collection included: Fragile Boundaries, an introspective look at wish-fulfillment and its repercussions. In the Matter of Animals, a tale of sisters bound together as prey and searching for a way out of their situation. Finally, Sleep with One Eye Open, which was a fun take on the present-day revenge story in a time of ghosting and relationships left hanging.
At first glance, some of the stories seemed run-of-the-mill, sharing how a woman decides to leave her husband or a family coping with their secrets. As I read on, I realized they felt this way only because they were stories that I am familiar with, either from having experienced them or in other literature.
Each piece is a moment plucked from a character’s life that they would likely never share publicly, let alone to their closest confidants. They are the events in their lives that shape them forever, even if they seemed insignificant at the time. Perhaps it was setting foot on a new course in life, witnessing (or causing) a horrible event, or a time that foreshadowed larger implications later. Readers are sure to identify with some of the stories, and others will reveal what it is to a complicated human and deal with the choices we make and the emotions that come with them.
My personal favorites of the collection included: Fragile Boundaries, an introspective look at wish-fulfillment and its repercussions. In the Matter of Animals, a tale of sisters bound together as prey and searching for a way out of their situation. Finally, Sleep with One Eye Open, which was a fun take on the present-day revenge story in a time of ghosting and relationships left hanging.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews