Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction

by Judith Kitchen (Editor)

Invigorating creative nonfiction―short, but never slight―gathered by the co-editor of In Short and In Brief . In the years since the perennially popular In Short and In Brief were published, readers have come to delight in the deft focus of the succinct piece we now call The Short. Extending this trend, Short Takes presents over seventy-five writers whose range and style demonstrate the myriad ways we humans have of telling our truths. Themes develop and speak to or collide with one another: musings about parents, childhood, sports, weather, war, solitude, nature, loss―and, of course, love. The stellar roster of contributors includes well-known writers―Verlyn Klinkenborg, Jo Ann Beard, David Sedaris, Dorothy Allison, Salman Rushdie, and Terry Tempest Williams―along with Michael Perry, Mark Spragg, Jane Brox, and others whose literary stars are clearly rising. Each short―whether a few paragraphs or reaching 2,000 words, and reflecting almost every way nonfiction can be written―invites us to experience the power of the small to move, persuade, and change us.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Memoir, Writing, Read For School

400 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 2005

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you just have to be in the right headspace for a book to enjoy it. This book was originally purchased for a writing class I took and we read 4-5 of the selections. That was several years ago and while I enjoyed the class and the readings, whenever I tried to read the full book it did not hold my attention. It sat on my bookshelf for several years until a few weeks ago when I picked it up again. I have been reading more non-fiction of late and have particularly come to appreciate the variety of voices present in non-fiction that shares personal experiences. Short Takes is that sort of non-fiction. There are no identity politics here. The loose grouping of themes is much more universal – relating to nature, memories from childhood, how we learn and what teaches us; these are personal observations, ordinary observations, and the writer illuminates how little things in life can be extraordinary.


A feeling I couldn’t escape while reading was that many pieces felt “internet ready”. The book was published in 2005, ahead of the now seemingly ubiquitous online landscape of opinions and anecdotes and shared life experiences. Anyone of these could easily be a viral essay, originally self-posted on social media and then picked up and endlessly shared, liked and forwarded. Maybe that phenomena is what made these easy to read in 2021? Maybe I’ve become used to the style and format of the short, non-fiction piece? The book was suddenly easy to pick up and put down and ultimately complete in a matter of days.

Short Takes is a solid non-fiction collection; there‘s not a one I disliked. “An Animal Looks at Me” and “Capital Realism” were favorites while “The Unknown Soldier” was most thought-provoking.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although some of the essays were not my cup of tea, I did enjoy a lot of the essays within this book. Usually, I hate books that professors assign unless they're classics, but this book was really something special. It was a collaboration of all of the most amazing creative nonfiction writers of our time, and I really appreciated it as more than just homework.

[Jane Wageman]

This was my first introduction to flash nonfiction; the pieces were all around 1-5 pages. Variety of styles/subjects/voices. Would definitely use if I were teaching a creative writing course in the future.

Favorites: "confessions" (Amy Tan), from "Two or Three Things I Know for Sure" (Dorothy Allison), "Contributor's Note" (Michael Martone), "Getting Yourself Home" (Brenda Miller)

[Michael Brantley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read. Nonfiction short stories: some good, some not so much, many spectacular. Really enjoyed this and it is an easy read because all the pieces are short.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of the anthologies of nonfiction shorties -- which is not a genre I love, but one I have some fondness for. I used it in a 200-level Autobiographical Writing course and my students got a lot out of it. Huge range of work and (for me, teaching at a Tacoma, WA univerity) a delightful emphasis on Northwestern authors. I love that there are more writers from Western WA than from NYC!

[Pt Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic collection. The pieces vary widely in style and content: the lush language and imaginative thought of Goldbarth's "Clothes" feels sensuous and dark; Kim Barnes' fantastically stark language in "Work" bares naked a beautiful spirit.

MS Kitchen has arranged the pieces thoughtfully, creating interesting themes; but the themes too are short, not more than a few stories before she has moved subtly on to something entirely different. I read the book start to finished and loved the experience. That said, I appreciate the thought MS Kitchen has put into her list of themes. I would suggest glancing through the "Themes" section at the end to see if you might enjoy approaching the book from different angles.

This is an exquisite collection; every piece is worth reading, even those written in styles you may find challenging. They take you to places you didn't know existed, to perspectives you hadn't considered, and experiences you hadn't imagined; and they are strikingly beautiful.

[Corinne Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually even attempt anthologies - I definitely prefer the novel or nonfiction that READS like a novel. But this one had a beautiful bird on the cover and the idea of "brief encounters" intrigued me. I really enjoyed this, which surprised me. No, they didn't all INTEREST me, necessarily, some were maybe a bit dull and some just weren't about anything I was interested in. But for the most part, I WAS interested. The writing was always at least good, sometimes astonishingly so. I laughed out loud. I FELT, deeply, and found kernels of truth exposed in a new way. A few of these short pieces really resonated with me, solidifying some of my own ideas I'd never even found myself thinking clearly until now. I LIKED how short they were and I liked how even in a page or two that a full and fleshed out idea could be presented for me to mull over. THAT is some good writing. For my own future reference, the ones I particularly liked were Tenino, What Sacagawea Means to Me, Standard Time, War at Home, Book War, Bookless in Biak, Disclaimer and Margot's Diary.

[Molly Bollier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a different kind of read for me (I typically stick to novels), but I absolutely LOVED the short-form of these nonfiction stories. It allowed me to read slowly and truly appreciate the efficiency of the prose, the intentional choices made by the author to convey emotion, sensation and narrative in a condensed form.
There were a number of pieces I didn't find particularly interesting (those about fishing, for example), yet, I could undoubtedly discern the author's feeling for the subject matter. I could also appreciate that some of the writers were not widely published, some without extensive writing experience or credentials.
I would read more nonfiction if there were more of these compilations available!

[Rachel B · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The problem with anthologies, of course, is that some pieces resonate and others don't, and you won't know which is which until you read them all, given the sheer range of writers included (76 in this collection).

I only liked bits and pieces of certain essays, and there were many I didn't care for at all, whether because they were boring, or they featured sexual content, profanity, or the notion that evolutionary theory is fact.

I also wish the bio for each writer appeared directly after their work (instead of compiled toward the end), so I wouldn't have to flip back and forth after each piece.

[Judith Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A diverse collection of short nonfiction pieces by 77 different writers, some famous, some less so (at least to me), which I read over a period of months. Published in 2005, the book's pieces appear to date from the couple of decades before that. Some of my favorites: "Bookless in Biak," by Lawrence Millman, about his fear of being caught on a trip with nothing to read; "Experiencing," by Stephen Corey, about watching his 17-month-old granddaughter experience her world; and "Essay, Dresses, and Fish," by Sandra Swinburne, inspired by John McPhee's The Founding Fish, an excerpt from which appears just before this essay. Lots of inspiration here.

[A E Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book. Some of the stories in this will be ones I never forget while others are...eh. Overall, I enjoyed this book and found it beneficial to my own writing progress. It was required for my creative nonfiction course and I can see why. The stories really are the definition of "short and sweet" as they were easy to dissect and discuss in class. If a beginner creative nonfiction writer wanted some good examples to help them isolate what works and what doesn't, this is the book.

[Mateu Montesinos · Rating 3 out of 5]

me l'han fet llegir a ESL, llibre d'històries curtes, entretingut i prou assequible, un repàs sobre els estats units del segle passat amb històries còmiques i altres més analítiques com la dels indígenes americans. Primer llibre en anglès llegit entent el tema i també i gràcies a treballar-lo a classe

[Debbie Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This variety of short essays demonstrates how much information and entertainment can be packed into a succinct piece of writing. There's a wide variety of themes -- something to catch everyone's attention.

[Kevin Hodgson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely writing ... and the editing is brilliant, with themes emerging like a narrative over the entire collection ...

[Meg Mahoney · Rating 3 out of 5]

P. 104

[Janée Baugher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE quintessential anthology of short nonfiction for any teacher or student working in the space of that genre. Kitchen was a trailblazer.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointment. There were only two or three writers whose work affected me in a positive way.

[Abigail Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent essays in here.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

favorite essays from this collection:
- clean slate by joanna mcnaney
- son of mr. green jeans by dinty w. moore
- what sacagawea means to me by sherman alexie
- margot’s diary by s. l. wisenberg

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. There were some lulls and some real hits.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

- brief history of my thumb
- signs and wonders
- those who stay and those who go
- six postcards
- from 'two or three things i know for sure'
- two
- the war at home
- me talk pretty one day
- an animal looks at me
- hose
- the old country
- the unknown soldier
- getting rid of the gun
- bullet in my neck
- essay, dresses, and fish

[Danny Parr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short stories, while very different from each other, are organized in way that connects themes and ideas pretty well.

[Zoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of 77 short, contemporary, creative non-fiction pieces. Some of them are almost magical in their power to grip with such intensity using so few words. Others aren't as good. But, either way, they're over before you know it. (This is one of the things I both like and dislike about the book. It would be perfect for reading on the bus or when you just have a few minutes at a time for reading, but not so great when you feel like sinking your teeth into a good book.)

Some of my favourites: The Spinners (Michael Datcher), They're in the River (John McPhee), from Two or Three Things I Know for Sure (Dorothy Allison), Getting Yourself Home (Brenda Miller). (Unfortunately I didn't mark the ones I liked best, so some of my favourites aren't on my list.)

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Insofar as my images of North encode a message, an assumption about life, it is that circumstance is fundamentally adversarial; human relations are difficult; resolution (never mind transcendence) is unlikely; and the best one can do is to keep one's own counsel, hold fast while enduring disappointments and defeats, and accept that the highest human goal is to greet fate with dignified composure."

"Take my name from me and make it a verb. Think of me when you run out of money. Remember me when you fall on the sidewalk. Mention me when they ask you what happened."

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, apparently I'm never, ever going to be able to finish this book. It's been on my "Currently Reading" shelf for, um, ever. Wish I guess is a sign that it's not exactly been calling out to me. However, I remember at least one great piece by Stuart Dybek, lots of great reading overall, and, several instances where I thought it could serve well as a teaching device. However, I still haven't read all of the book. Someday ...?

[Judith Shadford · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a marvelous collection of "brief encounters" with a stunning collection of writers and essays. I really think you can't get a better editor than Judith Kitchen. And what was truly breathtaking was how the mini-collections are gathered and then segue into the next little collection: we to I, water flowing throughout the collection, colors, time itself, all circling and expanding, flowing underground and coming down from the sky--water, yes, but the essays themselves.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven but absorbing collection of essays. Standouts include Barbara Hurd's 'Moon Snail' which is well worth the price of admission, and made me vow to find more by her, right away. It put me in mind of Annie Dillard at her grittiest. Also noteworthy was Michael Perry's 'The Big Nap'- visionary, quiet, and revelatory. A collection worth picking up.

[Maddy Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a great selection of nonfiction in the book. I had to read some of it for school, but I ended up finishing the entire thing. Top six favorites:
Brief History of My Thumb by Lucia Perillo
Capital Realism by Ann Pancake
Confession by Stuart Dybek
The Ghetto Girls' Guide to Dating and Romance by Sonja Livingston
Signs and Wonders by Rebecca McClanahan
and
Winter Wheat by Anne McDuffie

[anna b · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice introduction to short nonfiction, if that's a genre you're unfamiliar with. There are some gems and some exceedingly boring pieces. I'd encourage skipping the ones that feel like they drag. Seriously. Few of the stories are over 10 pages; if you're bored in that little time, might as well move on to the next one.

[Sonja Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of a Kitchen's series of anthologies which showcase diverse approaches to the brief essay. A collections of little gems, a must have for nonfiction teachers and writers, or anyone who loves short nonfiction.