In Our Time (book)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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In Our Time. It is disputed whether (to win a bet), as alleged, he also wrote the flash fiction "For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn".
The 'short short story' has been particularly popular in science fiction and mystery genres since the 1930s.
Hispanic literature has many authors of micro-stories, including Augusto Monterroso (whose "El dinosaurio" is often credited as one of the shortest stories ever written), and Luis Felipe Lomelí ("El Emigrante"). In Spain authors of microrrelatos (very short fictions) have included Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, Andrés NeumanRamón Gómez de la Serna, José Jiménez Lozano, Javier Tomeo, José María Merino, Juan José Millás, and Óscar Esquivias.
Italo Calvino consciously searched for a short narrative form, drawing inspiration from Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares and finding that Monterroso's was "the most perfect he could find"; "El dinosaurio", in turn, possibly inspired his "The Dinosaurs".
In France and Francophone countries, micronouvelles have been popularized by authors such as Jacques Fuentealba, Vincent Bastin, Olivier Gechter, Stephane Bataillon and Laurent Berthiaume.
In German, authors of Kürzestgeschichten, influenced by brief narratives penned by Bertolt Brecht and Franz Kafka, have included Peter Bichsel, Heimito von Doderer, Günter Kunert and Helmut Heißenbüttel.
In the Arab world, the famous Naguib Mahfouz is one of the most able flash fiction writers. After the years of silence that followed him being stabbed twice in the neck, Mahfouz was unable to maintain his memory and use his hand. Accordingly he resorted to mastering flash fiction. He wrote some of the most astounding short stories before his death using this technique.
