Choose Your Future

by Stephen Livingston

An award winning short story about the near future. First published in the anthology "Scotland into the New Era" this story was a winner of the inaugural Canongate Prize for New Writing. It is written in the second person and explores themes of art, science, politics and self determination.

Genres: Short Stories

8 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 25, 2011

About the author

Stephen Livingston is an award winning short story author. His first published work, Choose Your Future, won the inaugural Canongate Prize for New Writing and is available in the anthology Scotland Into The New Era. His short story The Waster's Tale won the EndPapers Tales Series Prize and is available in the anthology Glasgow Tales. Another story Recycling was published in the anthology Scores 4 available from St Andrews University Dept of English where he received a post-graduate M. Litt. in Creative Writing. Kindling is his first collection of short stories.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi

This is the third short story I have read by Stephen Livingston and my favourite.

The central character (who is also the reader) is given three options for the future, one of which he (or we) must pick and none of which seam that attractive.

The setting for the start and end of the story is a club with very loud music. Clubbers are thought of as being the young, and the young are not thought of as being typical voters. I could be missing the point but I guess part of the message is that young and old, we are all responsible for picking the future of the world that we live in.

Hope to read more from Stephen Livingston soon.


Alex

[Nathan Yocum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choose your Future is a solid bit of meta-fiction. Stephen Livingston paints a clear and vivid mental picture through an unusual landscape. The story reminded me a little of James Joyce or Irwine Welsh, which is a compliment either way. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes strange short fiction.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my favorite short story. But a nice look on what has caused the progress of our society from a contemporary perspective

[Monica Akinyi Odhiambo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read about this guy who goes partying in a club,and gets a blackout.During this time,he finds himself in a room with 3 doors,and each door leads him to different situations and all he hears is this voice that keeps telling him to choose.Once he is done with a door,it closes and he finds himself back in the blank room.It was fun reading it,considering it was just within that time he blackout.

[Josetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some issues with this one. I realize it's a short story, but the themes could've been way more developed and thought-provoking. Plus, there were obvious grammatical errors which distracted me. While it wasn't a complete waste of time, I doubt I'll be contemplating it, even for the rest of the evening.

[Dyla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have downloaded 4 of Mr. Livingston's eBooks. I tried 6 times to read this book to the end. I am grateful I did not buy it.

Basically, after reading the previous ratings on this site, I see that the author rated it a 5 twice.

[Austin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love short stories, and Livingston doesn't disappoint in this short work. It is not only entertaining, but this book provides an excellent commentary on our society.