Three Notes & a Book Review (Deming, 2023)

Celebrating a small miracle of micro-fiction

Dear readers,

A happy belated New Year- two brief notes precede today’s review. Poets, stick around ‘til the end for an important submission window note.

For Travel & Art lovers: If visiting Athens between now and 18 February, don’t miss artist Markos Kampanis’ richly varied retrospective exhibition (1990-2020), held at the National Library of Greece. Logistics are: 4^th floor hall, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Syggrou Avenue 364, 17674 Kallithea, Athens. Open daily from 9:3AM-8PM. Entry Free.

For Scholars on the Caucasus region: the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus is creating, for the first time, a ‘Scholars Directory’ to enhance cooperation between academics working on different regional topics. Visit their webpage here for more information and sign-up details. ARISC also runs a useful mailing list on upcoming scholarly presentations, works-in-progress, scholarships, etc.

And now, today’s review.

Justin Deming, 50 Fifties: A Justin Deming Literary Project (December, 2023)

Cover by John Lightle; book design by Meg Oolders

The outcome of a multi-year fictional journey and bi-weekly (since September 2022) Substack prompt-fiction celebration, ‘Fifties by the Fire,’ this little book by Along The Hudson’s  Justin Deming is an engaging experiment in micro-fiction. As the title reveals, it comprises 50 micro-flash stories of 50 words each. Some of these appeared during the ‘Fifties by the Fire’ prompt writing sessions with the same specs, that brought together writers from across Substack to offer their own creative works based on a chosen theme, word or image as a lead prompt.

Deming’s specific self-published collection is available at the above Amazon link, both in paperback and for Kindle. In his Introduction, this native New Yorker recalls that the book’s origins derive from a 2018 chance rummage through trunks belonging to his grandparents. It was a wintry day in the family garage in ‘frigid’ upstate New York; “to this day, I don’t know what possessed me to do it,” Deming writes.

Deming discovered “countless handwritten poems, songs and lyrics,” written by his grandfather, Alden (‘Al’), a Korean War veteran. These were accompanied by pitches to music-production houses. A very interesting and previously unknown side of the grandfather’s life emerged for the young author, many decades later. Many were written, Deming relates, during the 1950s.The realization that his grandfather had been, like him, a writer at heart caused an emotional reaction in Deming. The result of this was his first 50-word story, in honor of ‘Grandpa Al,’ and published by an online literary magazine on New Year’s Day, 2019. The rest followed from there.

There have been many single-author books and anthologies of micro-fiction of different lengths and concepts, so Deming’s production is not novel. Still, 50 words is very few indeed. While the reading experience is subjective and readers will like some of Deming’s pieces more than others, he has unquestionably honed his skill for the micro-fiction genre, also developing a sense of authorial identity and mood that generally prevails, making the collection cohesive in nature.

Deming’s sparse works evoke a spirit of an older, simpler time and place. His steady equanimity and quiet conviction also appeal throughout the work. Both the exigencies of the genre and his sensibilities contribute to an aesthetic of authorial reticence, omission, and observation that shine through. Deming makes the final stories seem deceptively simple, though the writing process for such truncated work is invariably rigorous.

Some Favorites

There’s much to savor in this little volume of thoughtful prose. Some of my favorite examples include story 15 (‘The Greatest Gift’), about a newlywed couple who write each other stories and poems for Christmas as they cannot afford gifts that particular year. The uncanny resemblance to early 20^th-century writing in Deming’s work here reminds of an inverted O. Henry in miniature.

Story 25 (‘History Lingers’) is also fun. It’s about a house that may or may not be haunted; here the author uses dialogue effectively – something difficult in such a short format – to accentuate the concept, with this line: “Snap your photographs, fool,” Lucille whispers in the young man’s ear. “Then leave!”

Another favorite in the collection is story 37 (‘Two Horses’), describing in the present tense a young stallion’s helping a blind mare find water to drink. This exemplifies the simplicity and good-natured aspect of many of these tales.

I also liked story 48 (‘New World’) for offering something slightly different- an imaginative take on a post-apocalyptic situation in an alternate reality, though perhaps one not far from our own.

Repeated Themes: Death and Returning Home

There are strong themes throughout of memory and returning home in various ways, even in terms of death. In the first story (‘Inhaling Her’) a blissful image of a seaside holiday is juxtaposed against a harsher reality, of a man about to freeze to death in the mountains. The theme reoccurs in a different manner in story 3 (‘Ancient Secret’), with the final line: “A gust of wind swept through, revealing an ancient secret: you’re home.” But in story 24 (‘Final Step’), the concept is opened out, and takes on new characters, centering on a wolf in the wild.

Further, the fifth story, ‘Time,’ is concerned with death and the concept of ‘last words,’ while story 7 (‘Soaking It In’) conveys the miraculous and comic in the context of a funeral. And in story 14 (‘William’), a double-reading is possible regarding an elderly man’s Christmas vision. Perhaps he has crossed over to the other side, after outliving all his friends and family. And story 27 (‘Between Worlds’) seems to have elements of near-death and post-death experiences in its imaginative punctuated expression.

Some Fine Lines

There are also many fine turns of phrase, which again is something to be celebrated, given the total story structure is 50 words only. For example, story 8 (‘Alive’) begins with a line that could go in several directions: “He was trapped inside his body and mind–the world obscured in a dark shroud of mystery.”

Another neat turn of phrase is in story 11 (‘Contemplation’), in which the narrator contrasts himself with military veterans. The line is: “The battle-hardened men of the past gaze at us in silent contemplation through clouds of cigarette smoke.”

And then there is story 26 (‘Torn’), which has an almost mythic feel despite being apparently about a relationship. It starts with a deceptively simple but loaded line- “She had a choice: the sun, moon, or stars.”

Further, story 33 (‘A Siren’s Call’), which is clearly myth-based, starts with a great line: “She whispered melodies and spoke in symphonies,” before achieving its darker purpose toward the end.

Finally, story 44 (‘Riptide’), about a swimming mishap, starts with a fine line: “The Atlantic needed to feed.” While this seems to deliver a final verdict for how the story will go, as so often in this collection, there is a twist later on.

Conclusion

In mid-December 2023, Justin Deming’s little book did the improbable- reaching the number-one position in Amazon’s Contemporary Fiction category. It would almost seem more likely that a self-published author on Substack had successfully forded the actual Amazon River, than scaled the heights of Amazon the digital empire, but I witnessed the feat, and I was very happy for him. Justin’s success clearly shows how this platform can led to crossover success in the real (if still digitally-driven) world of publishing.

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SPECIAL NOTE for poets: the famous Paris Review opened for poetry submissions on 1 January via submittable and will close as soon as it reaches capacity. Details here. Good luck!