Perhaps putting this review in the “short stories” category is a bit misleading, because the title of this book is no exaggeration: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 2. Between the small retro-looking covers, intrigued readers will find over 60 very, very short stories and accompanying illustrations. All I can say is this– you may be surprised at how much meaning can be conveyed in so few words.
Created as a collaboration between Joseph-Gordon Levitt, actor and owner/founder of hitRECord, and wirrow, a curator at hitRECord (according to Wikipedia), The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 2 is the second in a planned trilogy featuring these little stories, anywhere from one to three sentences or so. While several of the stories are written by wirrow him- or herself, most are contributed by people who submitted to their website for the project. In fact, submissions are still being accepted for the third book which is expected to be released in 2013.
Some of the stories are inspiring, but the ones that stood out more to me were the dark ones. Picture a two page spread that shows a sketch of a single street light above and darkness all around. At the bottom of the page a man’s face is visible, with a hint of desperation about his appearance and a sole sentence next to him.
He thought of all the different ways to make it look like an accident.
Yeah, that’s creepy, right? But the story that could come to life in one’s mind from that simple illustration and just one sentence!
Other tiny stories have a more humorous edge to them, and I feel that it’s best to leave you with one of those instead–
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 2 is clearly not your average book of short stories, but I found it to be quite compelling, and I think this would make for an interesting gift for just the right person. Maybe wait until the release of the last of the trilogy next year and gift them all together! If you’d like to view more contributions or wish to submit your own tiny story, visit the hitRECord page about the project.
Dawn, with her tendency toward verbosity, has much respect for those who can speak volumes in a few words. Her blog, my thoughts exactly, is the exact opposite of a tiny story.