Told in a Flash

How short a story is too short? When it comes to contemporary fiction, the limit keeps dropping, particularly as the Internet encourages the growth of “microfiction,” complete tales that are often startlingly brief—sometimes 100 words or less. Also known as “flash fiction,” the genre dates from the days of cuneiform tablets but has grown more popular in recent years, in part because many Americans do most of their reading from a computer screen, a medium that encourages single-page texts and also inhibits portability. Our growing use of instant messaging and phone texts has also whetted our appetite for the short and punchy.

Or is the popularity of this literary form simply another example of our diminishing attention span? One need only pick up any popular newsweekly from the 1950s to see the difference in length, complexity of argument and literary polish from that era to our own (note also that the average item on America’s Current Comment page is only 250 words long, which means that this self-deprecating aside has cost us 13 percent of our precious word count). For whatever reason, as a culture we are embracing brevity. The heyday of the 8,000-word article is long past; so too may be the era of 5,000-word short stories. (Links to microfiction Web sites available right here.)

Enthusiasts of microfiction must still kneel before the master, however. Literary legend holds that eight decades ago, Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a complete short story in only six words. His rejoinder? “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”

Australia’s Apology

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Feb. 13 issued a national apology to Australia’s indigenous peoples, in particular to the so-called This article appears in March 3 2008.