Memoranda

by Michael Martone

Twenty-five twenty-five word stories by the master of micro fiction. "They astonish and intoxicate."--Bruce Smith "It's Martone doing his job: ear to wind and ground, picking up the weird, the epic, the comic, the poignant: all the ghosts."--Marianne Boruch

33 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Michael A. Martone is a professor at the creative writing program at the University of Alabama, and is the author of several books. His most recent work, titled Michael Martone and originally written as a series of contributor's notes for various publications, is an investigation of form and autobiography.

A former student of John Barth, Martone's work is critically regarded as powerful and funny. Making use of Whitman's catalogues and Ginsberg's lists, the events, moments and places in Martone's landscapes — fiction or otherwise — often take the same Mobius-like turns of the threads found the works of his mentor, Barth.

Reviews

[Mandy-Suzanne Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Micro-stories of the unadmitted, overlooked, ashamed. I cringe, cower, want to cry sometimes (Memo on page 5: the reefs…). Other times, I feel bad for wanting to laugh, but I do it and enjoy myself. Isn’t that almost everything we want from a book?

A favorite bit: “This button must be constantly depressed. Constant depression. Simple physics. One pushes down and the earth pushes back.”

[J.I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

To a degree, this book is silly. It is a bunch of little two or three sentence "stories." They are cute, but can't add up to all that much. There is sometimes something funny or surprising or sad, but these are not the real lives of real characters. Yet, the form does a lot of work here. These are imagined memos, in a book of little memos. They are to (/dedicated to) people and are little blurbs that inform or delight. It is nostalgic, but a call to simplicity, and it is beautifully done.

[Alyson Hagy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Microfictions? Poems? It's best to think of these brief, inventive memoranda as just that...memoranda. As with all of Martone's best work, this slim volume is witty, rooted in a smart and serious understanding of America, beautifully designed, and so original you just want to applaud...and immediately read it again.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm biased, I love all Martone's work, but I was enchanted by this book of tiny stories so beautifully produced to fit the tiny form. Once again, Martone invented a new structure for prose. The titles are as poetic as the prose that follows. He can do so much with a few lines. The 4-sentence story of a postal inspector on leave speaks many creepy, tense volumes. Highly recommend to micro lovers.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hefty little book - 25 stories of 25 words. Sound intriguing? It is.