I've been a big fan of Dan Rhodes since his astoundingly clever first book of very short stories Anthroplogy (2000), which was made up of 101 stories, each of 101 word. This new book is kind of a sequel, although there are fewer stories this time, and the word count is not as strict. No story is more than a page and a bit, however. Rhodes is an extremely economical writer, and a very funny one. These are stories about love and relationships, some are sentimental, others are breathtakingly cynical and mean. He can create a setting, some characters and a scenario in so few words it hardly seems possible. The only down side is that you can read the whole book in about an hour. Here's a story:
Signals.
My wife handed me an envelope, and I excitedly tore it open to find a greetings card with a picture of some kittens on it. I looked inside, and in her neatest handwriting she had written: 'Thank you so much for putting up with me through my lesbian phase.'
'What lesbian phase?' I asked.
'Oh', she said, looking surprised, 'it's been going on for about two years. I thought it was obvious: the short hair; the dungarees; the way I wouldn't let you touch me.'
I was stupefied, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I couldn't believe I hadn't read the signals.
'But never mind all that,' she said, reaching up to ruffle my hair. 'I'm back to normal now. I'll go and put on loads of make-up, and we can pretend it never happened.'