A Modern Way to Die: Small Stories and Microtales - Softcover
Book by Wortsman, Peter
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews:
A first collection, by a writer best known for his translation of Robert Musil's Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, that can be read in five-minute snatches: it consists of 70 short-shorts, fragments, prose poems, and ``microtales''--a hit-and-miss affair where minimalism meets the surreal, resulting in equal doses of lyricism and tabloid humor. In the title story, a slight, surreal sketch, death is a spectator sport--in a tale that's a variation on the myth of the Grim Reaper. ``The House of Phantasy'' is a sadomasochistic tale set in the Third Reich; ``Exquisite Scream, According to X'' is about collecting screams, literally; while ``Jonah: A Fish Story'' is an amusing (but also slight) fable about a man who discovers that he has gills instead of lungs. Some of the pieces are quick, deft power fantasies: In ``Little Accidents Will Happen,'' for instance, a man's machine--or ``rejector''--casually amputates body parts or otherwise inflicts physical damage to strangers when its owner is annoyed or offended. Other short-shorts are interesting in their orchestration: ``The Eye of the Beholder'' brings together a young voyeur, an invalid mother, and a Bible saleswoman as Wortsman creates an encounter that reaches a point of logical absurdity. Of the so-called ``microtales,'' some are descriptive prose poems (``Pigeons,'' ``Squirrels,'' ``Still Life''), while other are surreal fragments (``Little Alien From the Planet Venus,'' ``Singing Doors,'' ``Thank You, Marcel Duchamp,'' ``The Birdman''). Wortsman tries to make a virtue out of sparsity--and sometimes succeeds--in stories that (as he says in a foreword) ``appeared in the absence of big things to say.'' -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherFromm Intl
- Publication date1993
- ISBN 10 0880641452
- ISBN 13 9780880641456
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages221
- Rating
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A Modern Way to Die: Small Stories and Microtales
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(1993)
ISBN 10: 0880641452
ISBN 13: 9780880641456
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A Modern Way to Die; Small Stories and Microtales
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A Modern Way to Die
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New York: Fromm International, 1993, New York
(1993)
ISBN 10: 0880641452
ISBN 13: 9780880641456
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