49: A Square of Stories

by Bruce Holland Rogers

The author of The Keyhole Opera (World Fantasy Award 2006) is back with 52 stories about children and parents, lovers and rivals, seven deadly sins, and the adventures of the Montreal poet Donat Bobet. Rogers is a two-time winner of the international Micro Award for fiction under 1,000 words, and this collection demonstrates his continued mastery of the flash-fiction form.

264 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2013

About the author

Sometimes credited as Hanovi Braddock

Bruce Holland Rogers has a home base in Eugene, Oregon, the tie-dye capital of the world, but until July of 2008 he is living in London, England. His fiction is all over the literary map. Some of it is SF, some is fantasy, some is literary. He has written mysteries, experimental fiction, and work that's hard to label.

For six years, Bruce wrote a column about the spiritual and psychological challenges of full-time fiction writing for Speculations magazine. Many of those columns have been collected in a new book, Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer (an alternate selection of the Writers Digest Book Club). He is a motivational speaker and trains workers and managers in creativity and practical problem solving.

He has taught creative writing at the University of Colorado and the University of Illinois. Bruce has also taught non-credit courses for the University of Colorado, Carroll College, the University of Wisconsin, and the private Flatiron Fiction Workshop. He makes frequent appearances at writer's conferences. He is currently a member of the permanent faculty at the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA program, a low-residency program that stands alone and is not affiliated with a college or university. It is the first and so far only program of its kind.

Reviews

[James Walter Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty and comical. Most of the stories are only two to four pages.

[Kim Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce Holland Rogers' Forty Nine: A Square of Stories is an eclectic work that offers more than the reader bargains for in a short story collection. First, it presents not 49 stories as advertised, but 52. Three bonus stories, resulting from the support of special patrons of Rogers' Kickstarter for the project, appear at the end of the book. Second, both new readers and those familiar with Rogers' earlier work will delight in several new tales featuring the eccentric and highly dramatic poet-philosopher, Donat Bobet, who looks at the world from a decidedly different point of view. Third, although the individual stories are quite short – most are only a few pages, and none span more than ten – each is a fully-formed gem faceted with meaning. These stories are surprising and subtle, by turns poignant, thought-provoking, or humorous. Each has something to say that is worth more than a few minutes and a single read. You could race through these short-shorts one after the other, but I'd recommend savoring each story and allowing it to percolate in your mind.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I looked over the table of contents to start this review, and chuckled. Then I got sucked back into some of the stories, rereading 'just this one'. But it can't be done. One brilliant flash fiction story leads to another, and you can't stop reading. Each of these 52 stories was a gem. (It looks like 49 just weren't enough, despite the title) All of the stories engage; they're funny, touching, thought-provoking. The surreal series of 'Seven Deadly Hotels' was memorable, as was the imagination vs. reality worldview of poet Donat Bobet, a character who stars in a number of the stories.

[Priscilla Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Striking and hilarious. Brilliant. The most refreshing and entertaining short fiction I've read in a long time. Anyone interested in linked stories should look at Rogers's ways of linking. The character Donat Bobet is something else! Oh my. Every time I turn the page I am chuckling or intrigued. This is a 17-star book.