Steve Almond

I recently finished Steve Almond's short story collection, My Life in Heavy Metal. For those of you who haven't heard of him, or haven't read this collection, I highly recommend it. He's quickly become one of my favorite writer's, and he's definitely one of the best at writing about sex and the body.



Another Almond collection I just finished was This Won't Take But A Minute, Honey. This is a self-published collection, half stories (short-shorts) and half essays (which are about how to write a story). I find that he is at his absolute best in flash-fiction. Here's a excerpt from my favorite story "Rumors of Myself",

"Up north the rains blur everywhere and trees loan us the impression of a time less hindered by travel. A man with a reliable car found me coiled by the side of the road. I didn’t ask for him to stop or open his door. He told me of his years on the police force bopping spics on the head and doted on a Doberman he nursed himself by hand. I stumbled down Mississippi looped in the loose arms of cloverleafs and slept against concrete. An insurance man in Beaumont funneled me pills as smooth as skin. He wanted to be trusted. He said I should lie still and wait till I felt the ocean."

I don't know if it's legal to post the entire story on this blog. I wish I could, it's really one of the best stories ever written. Really. You can also find "Rumors of Myself" in Flash Fiction Forward (the most recent one), which has other amazing short-shorts by writers like Amy Hempel and Michael Martone.