Nothing Short Of: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story

by Grant Faulkner, Lynn Mundell (Editor), Beret Olsen (Editor)

Gems, shards, bon bons, quickies, tickles, or even pinpricks . . . Nothing Short Of presents the best of 100 Word Story.

In these very short stories, every word, every detail, every moment matters. What can a hundred words do? They can send chills, they can bring you to tears, they can take your breath away. In nothing short of, a hundred words is all you need.

“These beautifully economical short stories (yes, truly stories) are photographs built with words. They capture a moment and a lifetime, a fraction and a whole. They are epics the size of sound bites, and they prove once and for all that size doesn’t matter. Just the stories that fit inside.”

- Amber Sparks, author of The Unfinished World

“I love this little big book of 100s. But let’s call them Centuries, because they screw up time and space, these articulate deconstructions of Quantum Mechanics, these hopped up and happening nano-narratives lasting lifetimes, these microscopic millennia in nutshells.”

- Michael Martone, author of Michael Martone and Winesburg, Indiana

“From butterknives to little dippers, the concerns of these stories range from the miniature to the galactic. A collection of taut tales, like a set of fingers gathered into a fist.”

- Hilary Leichter

CONTRIBUTORS

Roxanne Barber, Roberta Beary, Digby Beaumont, Karen Benke, Ariel Berry, Emma Bogdonoff, Maggie Bohara, Jean-Luc Bouchard, Heather Bourbeau, James Braziel, Gerri Brightwell, Dan Campbell, Kayleb Rae Candrilli, Kate Hill Cantrill, Maud Casey, Brian Castleberry, Kevin Catalano, Ashley Chantler, Lina Chern, Jane Ciabattari, Stephen Cicirelli, Shara Concepción, Doug Cornett, Cherie Hunter Day, Jacques Debrot, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Joe Dornich, Jacqueline Doyle, Andrew O. Dugas, Misty Ellingburg, Sherrie Flick, Rachel Fogarty-Oleson, Kendra Fortmeyer, Thaisa Frank, Sarah Freligh, Jeff Friedman, Molly Fuller, Molly Giles, Barbara Goldberg, Manuel Gonzales, Ilan Greenberg, Robert Gregory, Stephen D. Gutierrez, Jennifer Handley, Chad Hanson, Tupelo Hassman, Eldon Hauck, Jeremy Hawkins, Emily Haymans, Elizabeth Hazen, Tom Hazuka, Kyle Hemmings, Melanie Taylor Herrera, Dane Holweger, Gail Hosking, Ulrica Hume, M.J. Iuppa, Royce Jeffrey, Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Simon Jimenez, Alyssa Jordan, Lee Romer Kaplan, Lee L. Krecklow, Leonard Kress, Amy Lafferty, Steven Levery, Colin Lubner, Jason Marak, Jackie Davis Martin, Jayne Martin, Ruth Martini, Tara Lynn Masih, James McCready, Josh McCuen, Jane McDermott, Corey Mesler, Michael Mira, Kona Morris, Kermit Moyer, Cornelia Nixon, Levi Andrew Noe, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Fred Osuna, Pamela Painter, Jason Peck, Oren Peleg, Jonathan Penner, Adrienne Pilon, Maria Pinto, Meg Pokrass, Eric Prochaska, Peg Alford Pursell, JC Reilly, Ethel Rohan, Lisa Rubenson, Cathy Safiran, Robert Scotellaro, Robert Shapard, Kevin Sharp, Marc J. Sheehan, Tonya Shenandoah, Jon Sindell, Myra Sklarew, Janice D. Soderling, Joshua Kathy Steblen, Charlie Stephens, Michael Stewart, Nancy Stohlman, Paul Strohm, Elizabeth Swann, Aaron Teel, Becky Tuch, Meg Tuite, Connor Walsh, Barret Warner, Courtney Watson, and Guinotte Wise.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Flash Fiction

140 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2018

About the author

Grant Faulkner is the co-founder of 100 Word Story, the co-host of the Write-minded podcast, and an executive producer on America’s Next Great Author.

He has published three books on writing: The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story; Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo; and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide.

He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story.

His “flash novel,” something out there in the distance, a collaboration with the photographer Gail Butensky, is coming out in September 2025 with the University of New Mexico Press.

His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been  anthologized in collections such as Norton’s Flash Fiction America; New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction; and in several editions of the annual Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction anthologies.

His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Lit Hub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. He serves on the National Writing Project Writers Council, Litquake’s board of directors, the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Words’ Creative Council, and Left Margin Lit’s Advisory Board. 

He’s presented at events such as the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Associated Writing Programs Conference, Book Expo America, the Chicago Humanities Festival, the Oakland Book Festival, the Bay Area Book Festival, Poets & Writers Live, the San Francisco Writers Conference, the Commonwealth Club, the Digital Publishing Innovation Summit, Writers Digest West, the Porchlight storytelling series, Litquake, Lit Crawl, the Mendocino Writers Conference, the Sierra Writers Conference, and the Arizona State Library Association’s YA Summit.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

A varied collection leaning more towards unconventional; the majority did not speak to me. But still, an easy choice for some quick reading here and there.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this beautifully designed mini collection of micro stories (published by Outpost19). All are 100 words, and considered the BEST OF the stories that have appeared in 100 WORD STORY'S online journal. Fair warning that I am in the collection and honored to be placed first, but I admired the well-written introduction by the editors ("These miniature stories communicate via caesuras and crevices"--learned a new word, had to look up caesuras!) and the gathering of mini stories that kept surprising me with their originality and strength. It's hard to believe that so many different ideas, stories, emotions, styles can be contained over and over in just 100 words. This little book substantiates the power of the form.

[Claire Polders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this rich and affecting anthology is a wild ride through humanity, a psychoemotional roller coaster that transports you from hope to death and back. It lifts you into a planetarium, drops you at a table in a Japanese restaurant, guides you into an octopus bar, lets you hide under a piano, leaves you shivering on Antarctica, and convicts you to a prison cell. The editors did a brilliant job in arranging the stories in such a way that you’re not thrown about too much from one extreme into another, but can enjoy a common atmosphere for a while, before the stories dive into a new direction. In this must-have collection of gems, each tiny tale packs a punch.

[Berglind · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book clearly shows that you don't need many words to write a great story. The most popular theme is love, or troubles it brings rather. Wether that is because that's the story most of us relates to, it fit's this form so well or because the group of writers are homogeneous is left unsaid. Most of the stories are fine, some not that good or I just didn't understand and then there are a few that are gold nuggets. This book is a good read for everyone to see how you can tell a story with only 100 words – and what effect that has.

My favourite stories are: Hard Time, Coffee Bean, Snapshots of a Crash, Streets at Night, What do Those Characters Want?, The Hive, Old Men, The State of Things, Name That Tune, Naked and Profile by Andre O. Dugas.

[J. Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable collection of flash fiction that’s a worthy add to your library.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any collection of short stories, this one had some that were excellent, some that were expressive and beautiful, and some that left me wondering what they were even about.

Goaded on my group of collaborative teacher friends, I'm hoping to encourage students to write a 100-word story about their lives, and I was looking for some mentor texts to read with the high school students. After reading through all of the stories in this book, the ones I noted, some of which can be found on 100wordstory.com, were: Hard Time, Bob and Betty, Snapshots of a Crash, Coffee Bean, Streets at Night, Martha, Thicker than Water, In Blackest Night, Divorce Party, Final Tally, Sister's Boyfriend, Five Things, Moving Sale, Humpty Dumpty, Practicing, Glyph, The Hive, Great Composers of the American Popular Song, Cassiopaeia, Fair, Naming, Under the Piano, Bruno, A Day in the Life of Steve, Houndstooth, Profile, Descent, The Toast, Naked (seems sexy, but great twist).

[Kojo Baffoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable quick read. I wanted to like it more than I did but, because there were stories from so many different writers, it didn’t grab me wholeheartedly. Some really great stories, some so-so ones but, overall, worth the read and the time.

[Antonia Malvino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly G-O-O-D. It'll change your view of what 100 words can do in the hands of the deft or desperate.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cool concept. A few stories I liked. A few stories I didn't understand at all. Most stories made me feel... meh.

[Jarrett Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash fiction, in this case 100-word stories (called drabbles), case showcase a writer's gift for economy with the written word. These stories are trickier to write than one may imagine, but they're both fun to write and fun to read. The stories in this collection run the gamut: some are crystalline, others are poems masquerading as fiction, and others are junk. Here are the standouts:

"Practicing" by Roxanne Barber
"Competition" by Meg Pokrass
"Naming" by Jason Peck
"Under the Piano" by Roberta Beary
"By the Sea" by Barbara Goldberg
"Profile" by Andrew O. Dugas
"Descent" by Levi Andrew Noe
"The Toast" by Heather Bourbeau
"Dark" by Sarah Freligh
"Salient Sounds" by Connor Walsh

[Andrew Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorites from this collection, in order of presentation:

"Bob and Betty" by Molly Giles (p. 5)
"Snapshots of a Crash" by Melanie Taylor Herrera (p. 11) [one with a form I think my students will be interested in trying to replicate]
"Coffee Bean" by Oren Peleg (p. 16)
"Fate on the Highway" by Karen Benke (p. 17)
"Streets at Night" by Lee L. Krecklow (p. 23) [my number 1 favorite]
"A Change of Clothes" by Robert Scotellaro (p. 30)
"Thicker Than Water" by Jean-Luc Bouchard (p. 31) [my runner up]
"Humpty Dumpty" by Elizabeth Swann (p. 51)

[Ms. Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a tiny book, but don't let the size fool you. Writers will be inspired by the "100 Word" challenge that this book sets as its premise: write a captivating story in 100 words or less. This book took me months to read. Each page is packed full of a rich story-line. Readers will find no excess, bare bones, tiny snapshots that make you wonder, dream, grieve, and heal. A great resource for all writers, specifically those interested in the craft of short story writing.

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treat this like a bag of snack food. Entries-- abstract poetry, lyrical descriptions, esoteric observations, fragments of memory, personal anecdotes, poignant fictional stories-- range from cleverly sardonic to wistfully nostalgic. Hypothetically a quick read, the book is emotional nonetheless as the intensely emotional nuggets pack quite pack a punch. I often felt disappointed there wasn't more but periodically stopping to reflect upon what had been stirred up inside me prolonged my reading.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like most collections of short stories I read, I really enjoyed some of the stories from this book while I cared little for others. What I love is the idea of the book, to have all these stories told in 100 words. I followed the links mentioned and looked at some of their picture prompts. I think I’ll try it out with my 5th graders.

[Riley Morsman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories felt just okay to me, but there were still several wonderfully brilliant ones. I guess overall, I'm not too much of a flash fiction fan. I would have loved it if all of them were nonfiction, but that's probably just because that's what I'm interested in writing. All in all, a great book to study for the short form. Has excellent examples to pull out for teaching.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun to see how these writers could put an entire story is exactly 100 words! Would have been a five except that some of the stories didn't deliver. But for the most part, an enjoyable read. And something you can read when you only have a few minutes, i.e. on the train, bus, lunch break, etc.

[Bruce Gunther · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing in this collection is a cut above, although some - but not many - of the stories didn't move me. It's almost a textbook in flash fiction writing, which is a genre that seems so easy (like haiku) yet is so hard to do well.

[Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of work. I especially enjoyed the pieces by Barrett Warner, Jacques Debrot, Peg Alford Pursell and Sarah Freligh.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiration, tacit guidance, learning from those who venture before me. "A quick read," - Me

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divine—like the reading equivalent of an irresistible piece of chocolate cake.

[Mark Alden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these are absolutely brilliant, others left me scratching my head. Like poetry, they all forced me to slow down and several of them I read more than once. All in all, a nice collection.

[Valerie Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of flash fiction. I enjoyed every piece.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories that are all 100 words long (though does that include the title, which often provides key information or acts as a framing device?). It's an interesting concept, but not quite my cup of tea.