The World Is Yours: Microfictions

The World Is Yours: Microfictions is Ran Walker's twentieth book. A prolific, award-winning writer who champions this form of literature, micro fiction offers the reader an opportunity to envision a literary world steeped in economic word counts. Can a story be told in less than 500 words? How about less than 100 words? How about 50?! It's a challenge Walker tackles heartily and mostly succeeds in with this book. When Walker offers characters within an intriguing setup, his miniature stories shine and create a world with few but skilled brush strokes. Familial and romantic relationships are explored. The meanings in life's little moments for his characters are ruminated upon. When his stories fill most of their single page, they fly into the imagination and bloom; you can envision the full story and where it goes. Some highlights: Buckroe, The Other Side of the Bed, and Eclipse of the Heart.

But the offerings that are only a sentence or two feel more like musings than stories, teetering Walker's concept of “dope third-person omniscient,” an all-knowing narrator who speaks colloquially rather than formally. Without characters, they aren't as fulfilling and simply just observations. Thankfully, these musings are few, leaving room for his more verbose and intriguing stories. If I had one real quibble, it's that I wish the book were longer, giving the reader an opportunity to live in this world of micro stories for a much longer reading session. But if Walker's intent was to entice me to buy more of his books of micro fiction and ponder what exactly constitutes a story, then mission accomplished.

I highly recommend this book. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.