num_pages: 94
description: This collection of short-short fiction by Michael Swanwick contains more than 70 stories in fewer than 100 pages. Often humorous, sometimes chilling, always entertaining, these are prime examples of a recently resurrected literary form. The title piece is a five-minute condensation of a classic of Western literature, featuring a cigar-cutter as Mephistopheles, a box of matches in the roles of Helen of Troy, an Angel of the Lord, the Light of Ontology, and a cigar as Faust himself. Swanwick's bravura imagination has resulted in a separate story for every letter of the alphabet and another set of tales for every planet in the solar system. Additionally, there is a clutch of alternate autobiographies, a novella of decadence and corporate politics in a future Venice that has been boiled down to 416 words, Picasso and Philip K. Dick as existential heroes, and a rhyme for orange.Contents“Cigar-Box Faust”“Writing in My Sleep”“An Abecedary of the Imagination”“Eight Takes on Kindred Themes”“Picasso Deconstructed: Eleven Still-Lifes”“Brief Essays”“Archaic Planets”“The Mask”“Letters to the Editor”“The Madness of Gordon Van Gelder”
language: English
title: Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures
titlecomplete: Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures
genres: Fantasy, Collections, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction
ratings_count: 44
publisher: Tachyon Publications