Fiction. THEY COULD NO LONGER CONTAIN THEMSELVES contains--but just barely--five chapbooks of flash fiction, including the winner of the third annual Rose Metal Press short short chapbook contest, and four of the finalists from the fourth. Dropped toddlers, attempted drownings, juvenile promiscuity, road trips, and inappropriate therapy sessions compose the multi-voiced family portrait in Dear Mother Monster, Dear Daughter Mistake by Elizabeth J. Colen. Yoga stalkers, guns and gold, babies with iron stomachs, drunkards with t-shirt cannons, and warlocks are the stuff of Do Not Touch Me Not Now Not Ever by John Jodzio. Dominatrixes and fetishists, face paint and goo, fierce parental love and perverse longings cohabitate in Evan's House and the Other Boys Who Live There by Tim Jones-Yelvington. Leukemia, meteorites, Wal-Mart, bocce ball, Charlie Brown's clinical depression, the language of talking crows and of Che Guevara's omelets fill the eggs in How Some People Like Their Eggs by Sean Lovelace. And smallstories about pretty girls who sit quietly and behave themselves populate the pages of Paper and Tassels by Mary Miller.

Reader Reviews

Mel Bosworth

(5/5)

May 03, 2024

Yeah, if you like reading, words, variety, if you like books, pages, drama, humor, if you like to be a person, with hair, hands, eyes and such, if you like to be, if you are, I mean, then you need to pick up Rose Metal Press’s They Could No Longer Contain Themselves. It’s safe to say it’s pretty awesome. This collection of five flash chapbooks from five different authors (the four finalists from the fourth short short chapbook contest and the winner from the third) is as inspiring as it is movin...

Kevin

How much ass does John Jodzio kick? Quite a lot, and his work launches this excellent collection in impressive fashion. More proof that Jodzio is one of the best (and most underappreciated) writers of short fiction out there. The rest of the collection is pretty stellar too (Rose Metal definitely has a keen eye for talent). Mary Miller is fantastic. Elizabeth Colen's voice is seductive and full of shadows. Sean Lovelace is a warm headtrip. Tim Jones-Yelvington's stories blew me away in their sne...

Amy

I already knew that I was going to love Elizabeth Colen's work in this collection of five flash fiction chapbooks. What I didn't expect was that I would love each and every one of the other four just as much. The stories are funny, heartbreaking, strange, strangely uplifting, thought-provoking, smart, sharply-toothed, and toothsome. I enjoyed every page.

(4/5)

Colen and Jones-Yelvington were the most compelling for me. The book overall is between a 4-5 for me. I will use this down the road for courses in fiction writing. All of the chapbooks are very strong.

J. Bradley

I enjoy short story collections because they let me pick up and stop at will. This was such a great concept and a great collection of flash pieces. Well done Rose Metal, well done.

Paige Lanham

I mostly loved this for Sean Lovelace's section. Everything comes back to crows, how amazing is that?

Kelly

As seen in Gently Read Literature, Summer 2012http://gentlyread.wordpress.com/Masters of SubtextKelly Lydick on They Could No Longer Contain Themselves: A Collection of Five Flash Chapbooks.David Sedaris once said that a good short story “…would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit.” To master the art of the short story is to master a palette of details and display them appropriately, to see the scope of life as a metaphor for itself, to view a

Ak.

(here is my review, originally published here: http://flashfiction.net/2011/05/chapb...)There is a lesson in the truth of advertising here, “here” being the wind-swept cover of a book proclaiming of its insides, They Could No Longer Contain Themselves. Rose Metal Press’s new collection of five flash chapbooks more than keeps its promise.The collection includes Rose Metal Press’s 2009 Third Annual Short Short Chapbook Contest winner Sean Lovelace’s “How Some People Like Their Eggs”; Elizabeth J.

Melina

Tim Jones-Yelvington was my favorite writer in this collection.

Justin

I bought this mainly to read Sean Lovelace's chapbook, and I was not disappointed -- Lovelace is fantastic, easily one of the most skilled flash writers around. I was also pleasantly surprised at the quality of the other writers; John Jodzio and Mary Miller, in particular, were great. All in all, this book is well worth the money.

Gina

tim jones-yelvington writes life- specifically queer life, but also just life- the way i like to read it- humane, weird, sad, achingly loving, determined and unafraid in spite of great fears. perfect.

Fern

I'm learning about what exactly flash fiction and chapbooks are all about. I enjoyed reading these short, very rhythmic, sometimes disturbing, sometimes funny, sometimes both, stories. Highly recommended. Best to read a chapbook in one sitting to get its full effect.

Chelsea Bartlett

(3/5)

12/16/15

Frank

Quite the variety of quick reads, I had never read any of these six authors before. None are bad. My favorite is Sean Lovelace, born to write.

Joey Pizzolato

The pilar of the flash fiction genre. Read my full review on Curbside Splendor Press' website: http://inc.www.curbsidesplendor.com/c...

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They Could No Longer Contain Themselves: A Collection of Five Flash Chapbooks

They Could No Longer Contain Themselves: A Collection of Five Flash Chapbooks

They Could No Longer Contain Themselves: A Collection of Five Flash Chapbooks

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Reader Reviews