Nik Perring

I first became aware of British flash fiction master Nik Perring with the publication of Not So Perfect, his collection of short short stories published in 2010. That particular book was, in fact, also my introduction to the whole concept of flash fiction. As I mentioned at the time, I was fascinated by a book from which I could read an entire story while sitting at one of the many traffic lights I encounter every day. Then Perring’s beautifully illustrated Freaks, a collection of stories featuring some of the most unique freaks and superheroes imaginable, came along – and I was hooked for sure.

And now there is Beautiful Trees, the second book in a trilogy that will ultimately include Beautiful Words, Beautiful Trees, and Beautiful Shapes. As in the past, the author’s words are supplemented by illustrations that help bring the stories to life. This is a picture book for adults, the story of Lily and Alexander, two people who love each other very much and often mark the milestones of their relationship through their shared love of trees.

In one of the more poignant scenes of the book, for instance, Alexander brings a dwarf cherry tree to Lily’s sickbed because of how another cherry tree played such a significant role in the couple’s first meeting. In fear of spoiling Beautiful Trees for others, I’m going to stop here. Let’s just say that Nik Perring packs a lot of emotion and understanding of relationships into the relatively few pages he allows himself to tell his story. And that is why I call Nik Perring one of the masters of flash fiction.

Nik is a young man with an old soul – and I love his work for that very reason.… (más)

Perring's tiny book, barely the size of my hand, contains twenty-two stories that take the reader through an impressive range of emotions. It journeys from fertility woes through old age and death and leaves the reader breathless at the end. Many of the stories are sad but, because of their brevity, they don't necessarily wallow in that sadness. Instead, they give you a glimpse into a distress that you hope never to feel but that might not be so unfamiliar after all. And yet, a few of the stories scattered throughout the collection are mood-lifting and seem to come at just the right time to remind you that life can be beautiful as well.

I found myself re-reading some of the stories mere minutes after I had finished the book and was thinking about them for days to come. I jotted down one word reviews again this time but instead of writing out the story titles and linking them together, I thought I would just list the words here. It's hard to believe that I went through all of this in just over an hour -- tear-jerker, chilly, distant, ironic, explosive, sad, intense, dark, fated, unexpected, denial, symbolic, rebirth, truthful, universal, unobserved, pathetic, myopic, release, lovely, literal, heart-breaking.

http://webereading.com/2010/09/new-release-not-so-perfect.html… (más)

When it comes to reputation and popularity, modern day short story writers seem to get the short end of the stick. Novels are more popular than shorter works; there is no doubt about that. Readers seem to prefer immersing themselves in complicated, detailed plots housed in 500 pages novels over experiencing spare short stories of a dozen pages or so. I tend to be that way myself, despite the fact that I have come to believe that it might be more difficult to write a quality short story than it is to write a longer work. Nik Perring's "Not So Perfect" has pretty much convinced me that I am correct about that opinion. It must really be hard to make it look this easy.

"Not So Perfect" is Perring's collection of 22 short stories, several of which have been previously published in British (I think) literary magazines. The collection gives new definition to short story because these little tales are best characterized as short short stories. These are stories of a few hundred words and just three or four pages, on average, but do not let their brevity fool you because each of the stories packs a little kick of its own. Perring has such an uncanny ability to create believable characters and unusual situations in very few words that I found myself always looking forward to the next story to see if he could pull it off again. He did.

None of Perring's characters are perfect, and what we see of their lives is not even close to being perfect, but they are interesting and fun to get to know. Among my favorite stories is one about a library patron that comes to the disapproving notice of the librarian who suspects he is up to no good. There is one about a young woman's obsessive use of Post-It notes, another about two birdwatchers that come out only at night, and one about a woman who literally vomits small animals. There may be no perfect characters and no perfect lives in Perring's stories but I defy the reader to forget them.

"Not So Perfect" is fun and I will long remember it because of a unique experience I had while reading it. I always keep a book in my car, just for those little unexpected delays that so often happen during my daily commute or when I have to queue up someplace for a few minutes of what would, otherwise, be wasted time. "Not So Perfect" rode along in my passenger seat for several days and, while waiting for an exceptionally long traffic light to turn green in my direction (a wait of almost three minutes), I was able to read an entire short (short) story on the way to work. How cool is that?

Rated at: 4.0… (más)