06 November 2006

The Short Short Version

Everybody's blogging about this, but I'm joining the bandwagon.

Hemingway's favorite story was his shortest: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Breaks your heart in one breath. He was a bastard, but a genius.

Wired magazine asked for lots of famous authors' six-word story submissions. So what's yours? More on this later. In the meantime, here are my favorites:

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

Wasted day. Wasted life. Dessert, please.
- Steven Meretzky

It’s behind you! Hurry before it
- Rockne S. O’Bannon

Lost, then found. Too bad.
- Graeme Gibson

I saw, darling, but do lie.
- Orson Scott Card

In the beginning was the word.
- Gregory Maguire

He read his obituary with confusion.
- Steven Meretzky

Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here."
- Steven Meretzky

Edited to add:

  • Saw him on the street. Hurting.
  • I could never eat jam again.
  • Stepping over; pausing; turning around; recognizing.
  • "So now what?” “I don’t know.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i did see this story, in a couple of different places.

I agree with you that this is one of the best:

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood