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Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories
This is a collection of 50 mixed genre flash fiction stories. Each of them is between 600 and 1000 words in length. They vary from Romance to Science Fiction, and from the banal to serious in their scope. The idea of the title is to suggest that each story can be read in the time it takes for an egg to boil, or for the bus to arrive, or to help one get through the adverts on the telly. There is no expectation that all the stories will be everyone's cup of tea, or everyone's the right sort of egg. However, the author really hopes that everyone will connect with at least some of the spectrum.
164 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 2014
11 people want to read
About the author
Richard Bunning
19 books90 followersMost often, I write speculative fiction.
My speculative books are "Another Space in Time", the originally titled "Another Space in Time, Returns" and "Spiderworld"
I have two collections book of flash fiction out, out that despite their titles have absolutely nothing to do with cooking- "Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories" (Mixed genre) and the originally titles "Fifty More...
My latest book is "In Two Hundred Squared Words", which is a book of Double Drabbles, ie 200 word stories. This is suitable as a gift book. Another work is totally unsuitable as anything other than a gift item, a very silly novelty one. It is "Understanding Women: A guide for male survival" by Jennings, Bunning and Lebel.
I have some earlier works, which are reworked neoclassical plays. These will be of interest to those who wish to read Jean Racine in prose English. Not everyone's cup of tea, but handy if one's French is lacking.
I am an advocate of independent, vanity, and small press authors, and with this in mind I regularly review.
Above all, I like to be read. Even if my works don't attract your interest I hope that you look at my GR reviews to find books you are interested in.
Thanks for wading through this.
My speculative books are "Another Space in Time", the originally titled "Another Space in Time, Returns" and "Spiderworld"
I have two collections book of flash fiction out, out that despite their titles have absolutely nothing to do with cooking- "Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories" (Mixed genre) and the originally titles "Fifty More...
My latest book is "In Two Hundred Squared Words", which is a book of Double Drabbles, ie 200 word stories. This is suitable as a gift book. Another work is totally unsuitable as anything other than a gift item, a very silly novelty one. It is "Understanding Women: A guide for male survival" by Jennings, Bunning and Lebel.
I have some earlier works, which are reworked neoclassical plays. These will be of interest to those who wish to read Jean Racine in prose English. Not everyone's cup of tea, but handy if one's French is lacking.
I am an advocate of independent, vanity, and small press authors, and with this in mind I regularly review.
Above all, I like to be read. Even if my works don't attract your interest I hope that you look at my GR reviews to find books you are interested in.
Thanks for wading through this.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 29, 2014
The book is a mix of short and very short stories written on different themes and placed in different genres: romantic suspense, historical fiction, journalistic nonfiction, creative nonfiction, fact-based magical realism, speculative fiction, fact-based fiction, paranormal fiction, real life fiction, science fiction, suspense fiction, supernatural, mystical realism, philosophical thought, romance, psychological fiction, dramatic outline (of a TV drama), thriller and social fiction.
Stories I liked:
“Introducing Egg Timer Flash Fiction” – introduction – explains the title of the book: a story takes about 3 minutes to read, just as long as it takes for a hen egg to boil. In a similar manner, the author compares novellas or novels to other types of eggs (ostrich egg or elephant bird egg). Written with a lot of humor, this introductory short story offers a new, funny classification of books.
“Disassociated Consciousness and Hope” – speculative fiction – what would it be like if your brain were still alive after your body died? Here you can read the thoughts that go through a brain floating in a jar of liquid.
“Died of Protected Pride” – real life fiction – a story with a well-delineated main character (for a short story), Alice, a victim of her own racism.
“Hostages, Combinations for Survival” – suspense fiction – a story about the thoughts that go through the character’s mind while he is being kept hostage in a bank; survival instinct and morality fight in this suspense story.
“Beach Parasol and Abandoned Persona” and “Umbrella from Oblia” - real life fiction – In these two stories Richard Bunning touches again the theme of racism, using the same character, an African man, in both: as a main character in the first, and secondary in the latter. Even if the stories have different subjects, and can be read separately, I think they complete each other. The characters are believable and, again, very well delineated. The stories take place in Italy, where, sometimes, when things look pretty on the outside, they may not really be so.
“Pray for Mabinty’s Dream” - real life fiction – a message in a bottle, a letter written by a young African girl, Rebecca, on her way to leave her native village, to embark on a journey bigger than life, hoping that she would get to England. Written in a less than perfect English, with elements of native speech – the way the author imagined the girl to write – this realistic story is my favorite.
“Kassa on My Mind” – romance - the main character is a teenager, in love with a classmate, Kassa, going through the torture of his first love, trying to overcome his shyness and to prove to Kassa that he is not like all the other boys.
“What Dino Saw on Lombard Street” – social fiction – the history of a pawnshop, with very detailed descriptions of the things contained within.
“Rose, La Môme, Mon Mome & Mon Repos” – paranormal – Strange forces come from behind the grave, even in short stories; a father who has lost his son has proof of that, when the dead son saves his life.
“Pink’s Reflection” – psychological fiction – quite a scary story, written in first person, from the point of view of a mentally deranged individual who has been locked up for killing his own mother. Dark humor reigns.
As the writer says, it would be impossible for all the stories to be one person's cup of tea. I recommend the book to lovers of flash fiction everywhere.
Stories I liked:
“Introducing Egg Timer Flash Fiction” – introduction – explains the title of the book: a story takes about 3 minutes to read, just as long as it takes for a hen egg to boil. In a similar manner, the author compares novellas or novels to other types of eggs (ostrich egg or elephant bird egg). Written with a lot of humor, this introductory short story offers a new, funny classification of books.
“Disassociated Consciousness and Hope” – speculative fiction – what would it be like if your brain were still alive after your body died? Here you can read the thoughts that go through a brain floating in a jar of liquid.
“Died of Protected Pride” – real life fiction – a story with a well-delineated main character (for a short story), Alice, a victim of her own racism.
“Hostages, Combinations for Survival” – suspense fiction – a story about the thoughts that go through the character’s mind while he is being kept hostage in a bank; survival instinct and morality fight in this suspense story.
“Beach Parasol and Abandoned Persona” and “Umbrella from Oblia” - real life fiction – In these two stories Richard Bunning touches again the theme of racism, using the same character, an African man, in both: as a main character in the first, and secondary in the latter. Even if the stories have different subjects, and can be read separately, I think they complete each other. The characters are believable and, again, very well delineated. The stories take place in Italy, where, sometimes, when things look pretty on the outside, they may not really be so.
“Pray for Mabinty’s Dream” - real life fiction – a message in a bottle, a letter written by a young African girl, Rebecca, on her way to leave her native village, to embark on a journey bigger than life, hoping that she would get to England. Written in a less than perfect English, with elements of native speech – the way the author imagined the girl to write – this realistic story is my favorite.
“Kassa on My Mind” – romance - the main character is a teenager, in love with a classmate, Kassa, going through the torture of his first love, trying to overcome his shyness and to prove to Kassa that he is not like all the other boys.
“What Dino Saw on Lombard Street” – social fiction – the history of a pawnshop, with very detailed descriptions of the things contained within.
“Rose, La Môme, Mon Mome & Mon Repos” – paranormal – Strange forces come from behind the grave, even in short stories; a father who has lost his son has proof of that, when the dead son saves his life.
“Pink’s Reflection” – psychological fiction – quite a scary story, written in first person, from the point of view of a mentally deranged individual who has been locked up for killing his own mother. Dark humor reigns.
As the writer says, it would be impossible for all the stories to be one person's cup of tea. I recommend the book to lovers of flash fiction everywhere.
August 21, 2021
Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include FIFTY EGG TIMER STORIES by RICHARD BUNNING in the library of Awesome Indies'
Badge of Approval
recipients
More essays and author commentaries than stories.
The concept behind this book—that of stories that take the same time to read as it takes to soft boil an egg—is a good one, and I expected a series of short snappy stories to fit the bill. I got short, but I wouldn’t, in general, call the stories snappy.
If you like the Edgar Allen Poe style of story—not the scary part, the rambling, telling-rather-than-showing writing style that relies for its impact on the oddity of the story and the author’s point of view as expressed through the narration—then you may really like these stories. But if you’re looking for stories that drag you into the moment and don’t let go, you’ll find few of them here. Though some deal with interesting ideas and many will enjoy the travel stories—which are quite good for that genre—many of the stories are fairly bland, and some I can’t see why they were written at all, e.g., “I spy another castle.”
The stories that didn’t grab me are told to us rather than shown as part of the action and often in a rather passive fashion. Though a stylistic choice, which was popular in Poe’s day, ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ is not recommended for today’s readers because it keeps them remote from the story, thus limiting their engagement, and when there is so much highly engaging entertainment vying for their attention, this style of writing tends not to hold the average modern reader. Wonderful twists at the end would have redeemed the stories, but, alas, that was not a common element.
The second section of Through the Book to Alice indicates that the author can write in a more immediate fashion, and I would have liked to have seem more like that. This story is also conceptually stronger than the previous ones. Hitching across the Armstrong-aldrin road is another one written in a more immediate style. These are the stories that should have been at the start of the book.
As with Po, much of the interest comes from the author’s commentary in the telling, and Bunning has a wry sense of humour that is often more interesting than the stories themselves. In all the stories, the teller is very much present, and the stronger the author’s observations, the more effectively he pulls off this style.
Not all on the menu is fiction. The collection includes true stories, creative non-fiction, and what are really essays on various topics that simply share the author’s opinion. For example, Bunning unashamedly uses one ‘story’ to share his views on the importance of writing our stories, no matter who we are or whether they are relevant to anyone else or not. What he neglects to say, however, is that though all stories have value, that doesn’t mean that they should all be published and added to the general marketplace.
Where Bunning excels is in the area of metaphysical fiction especially when coupled with science fiction, and his metaphysically inclined stories are his best, for example, Dissociated Consciousness and Hope. It’s a pity that his best stories aren’t up front. But then others may enjoy the travel and historical ‘stories’ better.
Though grammatically correct and generally cleanly copy-edited—I disagreed with a few comma placements—were I boiling an egg, few inspired me enough to want to read them while waiting for the timer to go off. It’s worth a read if you’re happy with what is essentially the author’s wry commentary on life events and an occasional metaphysical sci-fi gem.
More essays and author commentaries than stories.
The concept behind this book—that of stories that take the same time to read as it takes to soft boil an egg—is a good one, and I expected a series of short snappy stories to fit the bill. I got short, but I wouldn’t, in general, call the stories snappy.
If you like the Edgar Allen Poe style of story—not the scary part, the rambling, telling-rather-than-showing writing style that relies for its impact on the oddity of the story and the author’s point of view as expressed through the narration—then you may really like these stories. But if you’re looking for stories that drag you into the moment and don’t let go, you’ll find few of them here. Though some deal with interesting ideas and many will enjoy the travel stories—which are quite good for that genre—many of the stories are fairly bland, and some I can’t see why they were written at all, e.g., “I spy another castle.”
The stories that didn’t grab me are told to us rather than shown as part of the action and often in a rather passive fashion. Though a stylistic choice, which was popular in Poe’s day, ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ is not recommended for today’s readers because it keeps them remote from the story, thus limiting their engagement, and when there is so much highly engaging entertainment vying for their attention, this style of writing tends not to hold the average modern reader. Wonderful twists at the end would have redeemed the stories, but, alas, that was not a common element.
The second section of Through the Book to Alice indicates that the author can write in a more immediate fashion, and I would have liked to have seem more like that. This story is also conceptually stronger than the previous ones. Hitching across the Armstrong-aldrin road is another one written in a more immediate style. These are the stories that should have been at the start of the book.
As with Po, much of the interest comes from the author’s commentary in the telling, and Bunning has a wry sense of humour that is often more interesting than the stories themselves. In all the stories, the teller is very much present, and the stronger the author’s observations, the more effectively he pulls off this style.
Not all on the menu is fiction. The collection includes true stories, creative non-fiction, and what are really essays on various topics that simply share the author’s opinion. For example, Bunning unashamedly uses one ‘story’ to share his views on the importance of writing our stories, no matter who we are or whether they are relevant to anyone else or not. What he neglects to say, however, is that though all stories have value, that doesn’t mean that they should all be published and added to the general marketplace.
Where Bunning excels is in the area of metaphysical fiction especially when coupled with science fiction, and his metaphysically inclined stories are his best, for example, Dissociated Consciousness and Hope. It’s a pity that his best stories aren’t up front. But then others may enjoy the travel and historical ‘stories’ better.
Though grammatically correct and generally cleanly copy-edited—I disagreed with a few comma placements—were I boiling an egg, few inspired me enough to want to read them while waiting for the timer to go off. It’s worth a read if you’re happy with what is essentially the author’s wry commentary on life events and an occasional metaphysical sci-fi gem.
July 30, 2014
Fifty Egg Timer Stories by Richard Bunning is a short story collection that engages the readers’ short attention span. Each story is approximately 750 words and, according to the author, should take about three minutes to read. I will admit, I was dubious about the idea at first (his first story explains his method), but I warmed to it as I continued to read. Bunning did not limit himself to one particular genre for these stories, but rather took on as many as he could.
This style of story collection is an interesting concept and allows both the reader and the author to dabble in fields unexplored. By including a variety of genres, the reader can experience a small example of what historical fiction, speculative fiction, or philosophical thought (to name a few) might be like. The author even includes a story in outline format, and a short play. Interestingly enough, the author could have broken down each genre into several sub-categories. The reader will notice that the stories are also anecdotal, allegorical, life lessons, or educational. The range displayed in Bunning’s collection gave him an excellent opportunity to try his hand at writing from a variety of character perspectives, points of view, and setting descriptions. These stories are told through the minds of young men or women, aliens, scientists, philosophers, and adults under duress.
As the stories are so short, it is difficult to describe them without giving too much away. The readers will find themselves riding on a train in Sardinia, donating their body to science, hitchhiking on the moon, being written out of a will due to a fashion choice, learning that deceased loved ones are never far away, and many more places. Two of the stories contained trigger warnings for sexual violence. I applaud the author for recognizing the necessity of announcing this.
By limiting himself to 750 words, the author did miss several opportunities to turn very creative ideas into meatier stories. Though many of the stories play out well, a few seemed halted unexpectedly to meet the length criteria and others didn’t have enough time to flush out characters or purpose. Regardless, the collection is a well-rounded variety and contains something for everyone.
This style of story collection is an interesting concept and allows both the reader and the author to dabble in fields unexplored. By including a variety of genres, the reader can experience a small example of what historical fiction, speculative fiction, or philosophical thought (to name a few) might be like. The author even includes a story in outline format, and a short play. Interestingly enough, the author could have broken down each genre into several sub-categories. The reader will notice that the stories are also anecdotal, allegorical, life lessons, or educational. The range displayed in Bunning’s collection gave him an excellent opportunity to try his hand at writing from a variety of character perspectives, points of view, and setting descriptions. These stories are told through the minds of young men or women, aliens, scientists, philosophers, and adults under duress.
As the stories are so short, it is difficult to describe them without giving too much away. The readers will find themselves riding on a train in Sardinia, donating their body to science, hitchhiking on the moon, being written out of a will due to a fashion choice, learning that deceased loved ones are never far away, and many more places. Two of the stories contained trigger warnings for sexual violence. I applaud the author for recognizing the necessity of announcing this.
By limiting himself to 750 words, the author did miss several opportunities to turn very creative ideas into meatier stories. Though many of the stories play out well, a few seemed halted unexpectedly to meet the length criteria and others didn’t have enough time to flush out characters or purpose. Regardless, the collection is a well-rounded variety and contains something for everyone.
March 21, 2014
Richard Bunning's 'Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories' is about the best INDIE writing I've had the pleasure of reading in ages. With this collection of Genre Flash Fiction, the author displays a dominance and control of language, grammar, dialects, characters, setting and description rarely seen by bestselling writers; and he does it all in 4 pages or less per story.
Flash Fiction - Definition
Flash fiction is a style of writing which involves producing very short pieces of fictional literature.
Works of flash fiction can comprise as little as a single page or 250 words.
'Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories' is unique in its wide range of genres. Sci-fi and Speculative Fiction are well represented along with Historical Fiction, Contemporary and even Chick Lit.
My only complaint about this collection is that a few of the stories were so compelling that I felt cheated that there wasn't a possibility to explore the topic in greater depth in the Flash Fiction format.
Watch for some cleverly hidden cultural references and song lyrics within the prose. My particular favorite was the Orwellian piece which coincidentally I read the day after seeing the black and white British television adaptation starring Peter Cushing. Bunning's piece beautifully captured the original mood.
I look forward to reading other works by this author.
Flash Fiction - Definition
Flash fiction is a style of writing which involves producing very short pieces of fictional literature.
Works of flash fiction can comprise as little as a single page or 250 words.
'Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories' is unique in its wide range of genres. Sci-fi and Speculative Fiction are well represented along with Historical Fiction, Contemporary and even Chick Lit.
My only complaint about this collection is that a few of the stories were so compelling that I felt cheated that there wasn't a possibility to explore the topic in greater depth in the Flash Fiction format.
Watch for some cleverly hidden cultural references and song lyrics within the prose. My particular favorite was the Orwellian piece which coincidentally I read the day after seeing the black and white British television adaptation starring Peter Cushing. Bunning's piece beautifully captured the original mood.
I look forward to reading other works by this author.
June 25, 2015
What an eclectic mix! I would call many of these delightful little stories philosophical musings by an intelligent and curious-minded author. More appetizers than main dishes, they run the gamut of genres, time periods (past and future) and places (the author is clearly a well-traveled soul). Some I liked more than others and I was bemused by one of the story's assertions that the earth was a former colony of Mars and humans are what remains of that civilization (ancient astronaut theory, perhaps?). I also liked some of the stories based on the author's real experience (in fact, I loved that the genre of each story was helpfully denoted in parentheses, just like this). Now I'd like to read some longer narratives by the author.
April 16, 2015
First, I must say, I love short stories. Not all short stories resonate with each reader, which is one of the highlights of a book such as this one. Fifty stories, in different genres, some more essay in structure than others, so everyone can find something in a genre they enjoy. I appreciated the variety, and the writer's style was complex enough to make the stories interesting, without being overwhelmingly difficult for readers of all ages.
July 21, 2019
The concept of this collection is of 3-minute read flash fiction - the time it takes to boil an egg, or, more specifically, for an egg timer to run out.
These may be 3-minute reads (one or two maybe a little longer), but it is clear from very early on that their composition was far from brief – the author has put a huge amount of work into each one of these stories, and moulded them in a very unique style. Although only an average of 750 words, each displays a particularly impressive knowledge of its respective content. Upon starting to read, first impressions are that Richard is a very good writer. Writing flash fiction is not an easy task – far more difficult than it sounds – and it takes a particular quality of wordsmith to pull it off fifty times in a row; this author achieves that skilfully.
Although described as “stories”, much of the work in this book presents more as creative prose – as the high-brow monologue of historical fact, philosophy and theorization by its clearly educated and travelled author. Richard relishes setting the scene at the start of each piece, and, at times, the “story” itself becomes peripheral – the main focus almost always rests in the context; he fits a huge amount into 800 words on each occasion. While, by the pen of another writer, this may at times have become annoying, in the case of this author, there is enough diversity of subject and sharp text to entertain the reader. That said, while this book claims to cross genres, a large proportion of the works fall very firmly into the category of futuristic science fiction – sometimes bleak – in the vein of Douglas Adams’s work, with scattered homage to George Orwell. Combined with the tales of ancient history, the writer’s style reminds me very much of the monologue of “Cloud Atlas”. While this fantastical theme is not particularly my own cup of tea, I do have my favourites across the genres: the tale of a pig that can talk to a man, and relates its tale of escape from the slaughterhouse; the reported discovery of an ancient Martian base protecting the Earth; my favourite would probably be the uniquely clever and inspired tale in which the narrator has an innate ability to “read” the apparently random strokes in a contemporary painting, and creates the profile of a victim in need of saving.
If you appreciate talent of a more high-brow or academic slant (with a particular emphasis on science fiction), I believe you are certain to find appeal in this very good collection. If, on the other hand, your tastes are of a more mainstream or pulp fiction nature, then perhaps this is not for you. Personally, I liked it a lot.
These may be 3-minute reads (one or two maybe a little longer), but it is clear from very early on that their composition was far from brief – the author has put a huge amount of work into each one of these stories, and moulded them in a very unique style. Although only an average of 750 words, each displays a particularly impressive knowledge of its respective content. Upon starting to read, first impressions are that Richard is a very good writer. Writing flash fiction is not an easy task – far more difficult than it sounds – and it takes a particular quality of wordsmith to pull it off fifty times in a row; this author achieves that skilfully.
Although described as “stories”, much of the work in this book presents more as creative prose – as the high-brow monologue of historical fact, philosophy and theorization by its clearly educated and travelled author. Richard relishes setting the scene at the start of each piece, and, at times, the “story” itself becomes peripheral – the main focus almost always rests in the context; he fits a huge amount into 800 words on each occasion. While, by the pen of another writer, this may at times have become annoying, in the case of this author, there is enough diversity of subject and sharp text to entertain the reader. That said, while this book claims to cross genres, a large proportion of the works fall very firmly into the category of futuristic science fiction – sometimes bleak – in the vein of Douglas Adams’s work, with scattered homage to George Orwell. Combined with the tales of ancient history, the writer’s style reminds me very much of the monologue of “Cloud Atlas”. While this fantastical theme is not particularly my own cup of tea, I do have my favourites across the genres: the tale of a pig that can talk to a man, and relates its tale of escape from the slaughterhouse; the reported discovery of an ancient Martian base protecting the Earth; my favourite would probably be the uniquely clever and inspired tale in which the narrator has an innate ability to “read” the apparently random strokes in a contemporary painting, and creates the profile of a victim in need of saving.
If you appreciate talent of a more high-brow or academic slant (with a particular emphasis on science fiction), I believe you are certain to find appeal in this very good collection. If, on the other hand, your tastes are of a more mainstream or pulp fiction nature, then perhaps this is not for you. Personally, I liked it a lot.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews