Flash fiction had a bit of renaissance at the turn of this century. The year 2000 saw the Internet becoming the main source of reading for more and more people. Flash Fiction was a logical size for the computer-oriented reader. Things needed to be short. I know I became obsessed with telling stories at shorter and shorter lengths. And it wasn’t that hard to turn down that road. So many of my favorites wrote shorter tales, long before anyone ever dreamed of an “Internet”. They did it because that was all they needed to punch you in the gut (figuratively). The surprise ending was not invented in 2000.
Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)
This French author shed the Gothic trappings of earlier writers and embraced Flaubert’s “naturalist” school of writing. De Maupassant began by writing short, often tragic or nasty, stories of the Franco-Prussian War. Later he wrote stories that poked fun at society and its pretensions and even some horror tales. He died young from syphilis, in an insane asylum.
O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) (1862-1910)
Henry, known as the American de Maupassant, made a stock-in-trade of witty short tales with twist endings. This led to the expression ‘an O. Henry ending’. Being very prolific, he had to develop certain tricks to bring stories to a quick, satisfying ending. His own end was similar, cirrhosis of the liver.
Saki (H. H. Munro) (1870-1916)
Christopher Morley wrote: “There is no greater compliment to be paid to the right kind of friend than to hand him Saki without comment.” Saki loved to slay the hypocrites, the stuffed shirts and the addled-witted with his wry, sardonic Reginald or Clovis Sangrill characters. He also liked writing very short stories. He died in WWI, where he served as a Lance-Sergeant. His last words were: “Put that bloody cigarette out.”
James Thurber (1894-1961)
Thurber wrote short humorous stories, often about timid heroes, as well as drew cartoons for The New Yorker. His story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was originally made into a film in 1947, starring Danny Kaye. The Thurber Prize is awarded for American Humor. Thurber’s last words were “God Bless. God damn.”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
John Collier (1901-1980)
Collier was a novelist who wrote stories for The New Yorker. These were collected in Fancies and Goodnights (1951). His story “The Chaser” may be the most perfect piece of Flash ever written. He lived a long and productive life. He wrote near the end: “I sometimes marvel that a third-rate writer like me has been able to palm himself off as a second-rate writer.”
Fredric Brown (1906-1972)
Fredric Brown was a Mystery writer by trade but a Science Fiction writer for fun. He experimented in the 1960s with shorter and shorter works. He wrote some of these with Mack Reynolds. His Nightmare in Black, White, Red, etc. series is perhaps his best flash work. Favorite books include Space On My Hands (1951). His short SF has been collected in From These Ashes (2000). Brown retired to Taos, New Mexico, effectively ending his writing career in 1965. Brown did not care for the entitled behavior of SF fans and poked fun at them in his novel What Mad Universe (1949). He left SF for retirement in Taos, New Mexico.
Roald Dahl (1916-1990)
Roald Dahl’s career as a children’s writer has entirely overshadowed his earlier career as a writer of short and nasty stories. Favorite books include Someone Like You (1953), Kiss Kiss (1960), Tales of the Unexpected (1979). Dahl’s brand of nasty humor defined his life as well. He enjoyed re-filling expensive wine bottles with cheap plonk then serving it to guests and asking them their opinions. He died of a rare blood disease.
C. M. Kornbluth (1923-1958)
A Science Fiction writer, Kornbluth wrote with a sardonic pen. He wrote several minor classics such as The Space Merchants with Fredrick Pohl. His stories have been collected in His Share of Glory (1997). Kornbluth strained his heart during WWII and died from a massive heart attack at only 34.
Jerome Bixby (1923-1988)
Jerome Bixby spent much of his time as an editor of Science Fiction magazines but wrote a number of classics too. His “It’s a Good Life” (Star Science Fiction No. 2, December 1953) was made into a favorite episode of The Twilight Zone with Billy Mumy. Later, after leaving publishing, Bixby wrote Devil’s Scrapbook (1964), a Flash Fiction collection, his last.
