Andrew Stancek

I don't know how many of these stories I should review and how many I should just save for the Collected Works, but I'll throw some quick sunshine on this one--it's actually less adventurous in some ways than "The Magician", previously reviewed by me of Stancek's: physically shorter, less phantasmagoric, less interested in drawing you into a world. But without meaning to criticize the other story, I actually think that makes this one better--it's less about creating a situation than a moment, not a concerto but a a pop single. I see now that this is an intentional constraint--this is what is called "flash fiction", and according to the magazine website, "251 words will not be published". I like it: the narrowed focus makes this quick sketch pop like a cork and cleave like a papercut. It's about a man waking up with his mistress on the day that tanks roll into Bratislava during the crackdown that ends what we perhaps exclusionistically know as the Prague Spring. It says a true thing. Give it a go.… (meer)