What I love about reading online fiction is the variety you can find – particularly in the realm of flash (a form that is very suited to the Internet). That’s all just a prelude to the praise I want to throw David Erlewine’s way. Specifically for ”Quiet”, his new story in PANK.
The story is under 250 words and has the weight of a story ten times as long. David does this so well in his writing –condenses the essential flavor of a narrative so that nothing is missed despite the brevity. In “Quiet”, he gives us the entire story of a mother/son relationship. Impressive not just in its ambition but in its effect. Its impact. Its success in causing the reader to pull in a long breath and wait a good moment before being able to move on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Damn, sir, quite an honor to read this. I won't mention how many times I just read your post.
ReplyDeleteThe story started off in the 1000-1500 word arena but felt quite bloated to me so I cut and whittled. Thrilled you liked it. Thanks again so much for the shout. David
Heh, I found you via David Erlewine's blog. Just a quite note to let you know that I've grabbed your feed and enjoyed your story in Storyglossia.
ReplyDeleteDavid -- that story's damn good. Deserves all the mentions it can get.
ReplyDeleteBrad -- thanks for the note, and, if we're talking about Storyglossia, that dust bowl story you did was great. Really stood out.
Nice review, congratulations, David. I'm just chiming in to say that I'm a fan of your work, Alan.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ethel. Appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteLoved "What Our Fathers Knew" in BULL. Just fluid throughout and perfectly pitched in each spot it needed to be. Okay, off to read all the rest of your stuff you've got listed here.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sheldon. Got your note at Fictionaut, too. I'm glad you liked the BULL story. It's the only poker story I've ever been able to make work.
ReplyDelete