The Thin Red Line

Awhile back I was tagged with the Six Word Memoir meme and I wish at the time I had had this just recently release trade paperback from the editors of Smith Magazine.   Subtitled  "six word memoirs by writers famous and obscure", Not Quite What I Was Planning is a collection of over 1,000 stories, told six words at a time.  Some of the celebrity contributions were quite funny:  "Liars, hysterectomy didn’t improve sex life"– Joan Rivers while others seemed a bit odd: "Revenge is living well without you"– Joyce Carol Oates or merely lame:  "Brought it to a boil, often"– Mario Batali.

For the most part the obscure contributors were more clever:  "Without ideas intelligence couldn’t exist"–Ornette Coleman or witty:  "Aspiring lady pirate, disillusioned sells boat"– Diana White and sometimes even wise:  "Lived in moment until moment sucked".   And my favorite as a blogger:  "Blogging is easy.  Writing is hard"–Jennifer Shreve.

I doubt anyone will mistake this for great literature but it is a very amusing book,  the perfect thing to be kept in a bathroom or waiting room for those times when you want to read a bit but not get involved in a story that will keep you there.   Not Quite What I Was Planning   Recommended.

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