Author: Jamie Hershing and James Stanson

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

ASIN: B003UYUY5O

Click Here To Purchase Minifiction Volume One: Marouflage

 

A book of succinct perverse delights, this collection of short short fictional pieces (or minifiction, as the authors term it) provides tantalizing glimpses of the imaginings of its two authors, Jamie Hershing and James Stanson. As stated in their prologue, “our goal is not to deceive. We are not the first to indulge in the self-aggrandizement of parody, and we certainly won’t be the last.” Each of the 90 pieces in this collection is less than a page, or 250 words, in length, but each captures some element of the literary genre which it represents.

As James Stanson reveals in an interview with David Wisehart on Kindle Author (http://kindle-author.blogspot.com.2010/07/interview-james-stanson.html), Hershing and he regard minifiction as exploring “the limits of conventional story writing, in some cases bending and blurring the boundaries of narrative to almost unrecognizable, yet somehow familiar, points.” The two authors initially worked on each piece alone, writing what amounted to ‘homework’ assignments that they set for each other, and then coming together afterwards to discuss the pieces, to swap ideas and to discuss how they wanted the work as a whole to develop. The editing of the collection they approached in similar vein, retaining some of the pieces, while dropping others, until they had a complete collection with which they were both satisfied.

Stanson reveals in the above interview how in “terms of the literary tricks in Marouflage, we made much use of allusion to other literary works and cultural references – as well as to other pieces in Marouflage itself – and made use of omission, or ellipsis, leaving the reader to fill gaps in the story on their own and therefore play a part in its creation, and we also parodied many forms of non-literary writing, such a journalism or encyclopedic writing.” All of this was done, according to Stanson, to stimulate the reader’s imagination.

Intellectually provocative, this collection (which is only the first of many intended by its authors) does set one wondering about the parameters of fiction and other genres of writing. Definitely not a work requiring the sustained suspension of disbelief in the reader, Marouflage is more anarchic in texture, seeking to sabotage the complacency of those who might else be tempted to accept the existing status quo. After all, is that not what parody is all about? Not an easy read, but one that is likely to appeal to those who are unconventional in their thinking, and who are prepared to experiment with the new and the enlightened, Marouflage is a worthwhile text. Above all, it argues the point: small is not insignificant. Venture into this realm, those who dare!      


Click Here To Purchase Minifiction Volume One: Marouflage