The Strange Museum: 50-Word Stories

by Ran Walker, Sabin Prentis Duncan (Foreword)

The Strange 50-Word Stories is a new collection of stories from Ran Walker, the 2019 winner of the Indie Author Project's National Indie Author of the Year Award. Each story contains exactly fifty words, save the title, and seeks to explore an entire narrative universe within its small space. The stories range from humorous to insightful to dark, and, yes, to strange!

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

128 pages, Paperback

Published February 25, 2020

About the author

Ran Walker is the author of four novels (The Keys of My Soul, B-Sides and Remixes, 30 Love, and Mojo's Guitar), two novellas (Beat Bop and Afro Nerd in Love), and two short story collections (Secrets & Cures and 16 Bars). His short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of anthologies.

Ran is the recipient of both a 2005 Mississippi Arts Commission/NEA artist grant and a 2006 artist mini-grant, and he has also served as an Artist-in-Residence with the Commission. In addition, he is a past participant in the Hurston-Wright Writers Week Workshop and is the recipient of a fellowship from the Callaloo Writers Workshop.

In addition to writing, Ran is a songwriter and music publisher with ASCAP and 1/2 of the electronic soul production team Groovault. Groovault released The Liquid Dream EP in 2011 and continues to work with a variety of up-and-coming artists. When Ran is not writing books or composing music, he is working on his iPhoneography and storytelling skills.

Ran is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Hampton University and lives in Virginia with his wife and much better half, Lauren, and his amazing little rockstar daughter, Zoë.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d never really considered the importance of word efficiency in telling stories. Knowing that each story was able to convey meaning while only having 50 words added a layer of appreciation for this collection. I quite like the formatting of them as museum placards as well. Some favorites are “The Defaults of Our Imagination”, “How to Train a Beast”, and “The Magical Book”.

[Kay H · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you pick up your phone while waiting in line, read a few stories from this book instead of scrolling social media or playing candy crush.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every one of these stories, I am now inspired to write some of my own 50 word stories. I use to write 50 word stories, it really helps to focus your attention on what is or is not important in a story. Find new words and building up your writing skills.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Really well done, for lovers of short fiction. I don't think I am, I desire a meatier story rather than snacks. They did make me think, laugh and feel. Well done.

My favorite (they would tell this story to their kids one day):
She had attempted to ignore him, hoping he wouldn’t approach her as she stood alone on the aisle of the bookstore.
He was the persistent kind, though. After approaching her, he mustered a polite smile and blinked twice.
“Excuse me,” she said by way of introduction, gently fanning behind herself.

The stories range from:
Initially the thought of owning a sex robot that “looked human” felt like a good idea. After weeks of looking into its eyes, though, Norman felt judged, as he’d been in his previous relationships.
Using his warranty, he sent it back to the factory in favor of one less human.

TO:
Titus wanted his father to be proud of him, so he tagged along. He’d heard of lynchings before, but had never seen one.
When he returned home later that night, he could still hear the man’s screams, and he knew those screams would haunt him until the day he died.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this one. I'm not the type to like short stories, but these were great. My favorites were: Butter Me Up, The Monster, The Bagpipe Lesson, The Defaults of Our Imagination, Metamorphosis is Harlem, The Thing I Had to Do, The Mourner, Shifting Perspectives, and The Bejesus Doctor lol

I've removed a star because I think what happens with 50-word stories, at least in this book, is that with so many stories jammed in, at some point they lose the novelty and kind of turn into jokes with a punchline.

I do love the concept though and would totally recommend this!

[Casey O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love short story collections, but this felt more like reading poetry. A fun experiment and some of them were really impressive and fun (see below). Hard to rate bc of length and medium, but I liked didn’t love so 3 it is.

Favorites (and why):
Until the End of Time (relatable), The Defaults of our Imagination (omg icon), How to Train a Beast (make this a full book now plz), The Magical Book (cool concept, giving midnight library but scary), Love Has No Limits (so cute I want to cry), The End (honestly accurate representation of how humans would respond to alien life)

[Tod VanZandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to pick this book up and read a few stories at a time. The only problem was that none of them really stuck with me. Mostly I'd read/reread one and then move on to the next. I think this would make a good bathroom book, but unfortunately my experience was on a cloud reader. Actual pages might have helped this land more with me.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun. Interesting.

As one might expect from a collection of stories, some are fabulous, others not as much. Some of the stories were a bit of a stretch, others excellent.

Worth the read just to see what can be accomplished when you have 50 words at your disposal.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking, funny, sad, just plain amazing all wrapped in one book. Loved it

[Steve Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a tiny house compared to a castle, these 50 word stories contain everything you need and nothing more. Amazing indeed.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had no idea I could be so interested in 50-word stories. Had many of these been synopsis for full length novels, I would have immediately picked them up.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real hit or miss, but mostly a miss