This short book of microstories and meditations on writing was printed on Harvard Bookstore's book printing machine. It's a pleasantly packaged self-published item. The only thing I still don't like about books produced this way is the lack of lamination on the covers. It often feels like the ink could rub off on your hands, and in my experience working with books produced on various generations of such short-run-printing machines, that does sometimes happen.But apart from that, I enjoyed this l...

Maybe closer to 3.5 but I felt like the quality was consistently high on both the flash fiction and the essays so it gets rounded up...These are interesting and varied flash fiction pieces - a little dry and distant at times for my taste but really well-written. And when they did hit for me, they hit hard. "Stop" for instance, was fantastic. Overall, a high quality collection.The opposite side of this slim volume is essays on the craft of writing. Almond is quite good at being blunt (maybe succi...

I liked the whole thing, but, honestly, I liked the first half - the flash fiction - more than the 2nd half - the "essays" about writing. Very enjoyable nonetheless.

One half/side of this small book are essays about writing (and/or trying to write, which is part of the writing... "I've come to see love in more precise terms, as an act of sustained attention implying eventual mercy." And then there's "20a. What You Should Be Writing About - Anything you can't get rid of by other means"The other half (which you have to turn the book over and upside down to get to, are short shorts. Don't know if they qualify as flash fiction, but none are longer than a page.St...

I love writing-craft books SO MUCH--just the *thought* is bringing tears to my eyes this very minute. I created an at-home (low-res?) third year to my MFA program by binge-reading craft books as fast as the public library could fulfill my hold requests, and introduced myself to the genius of Jack Bickham, Donald Maass, Julia Cameron, Adair Lara, James Scott Bell, and Stephen King as Ultimate Craft Masters. It took some time to appreciate Anne Lamott's much-loved "Bird by Bird" since it seemed to...

Steve Almond is a generous teacher and excellent writer. Best craft book I’ve read yet. With gratitude, Cat Fagelson

Every writer should read these fantastically funny and hard hitting essays about the process. I even liked the short stories, and you know how I feel about short stories.For more about Steve Almond including a video and a juxtaposition with Orhan Pamuk, check out the full book review on my blog.

Good essays. Ok stories.

Masterfully beautiful stories that take up less than a page.

A fun little picker upper. It is a flip book: short stories by Almond on one side and writing tips on the other. I may not have agreed with all the writing tips, but there is not a doubt in my mind, that Almond has the craft down. And more importantly, he is a damn fine writer who is also not afraid to teach.

the ONLY craft book I consistently use.

Wonderful book of flash fiction and flash essays detailing Almond's advice on writing. This book can only be bought at readings, I believe, so keep an eye out for him at your local writing conferences. He's an amazing speaker and writer, and his small gems are inspiring:"We are living in an era of screen addiction and capitalist pornography. As a species, we are squandering the exalted gifts of consciousness, losing our capacity to pay attention, to imagine the suffering of others....This is the...

This is my favorite book in the world to teach people how to write. I have pointed so many friends and students to the materials in the essays section and I think of so many of them every time I sit down to write. There's some sage advice in here, presented in a pithy, entertaining language. The stories on the other side of the book are also fun examples of flash-fiction. The book is just a gold mine and I highly recommend it to anyone who does any sort of writing (fiction, non-fiction, essays,

Half essays on writing, half micro fiction, This Won’t Take But A Minute, Honey can be read entirely in an afternoon, or like the title says, for a moment here and there. It is designed to fit in a back pocket and does away with dense ruminations on inspiration and style. “Writing is decision making,” Almond says. “Nothing more and nothing less.”Almond’s stories hover between the beautiful past and the potential of a glowing future, all filtered through melancholy. Love and regret both reach the...

Steve Almond's flash fictions are original in every way--not just slant or style. Yet they bring you to the brink of recalling a dream you may have had. They sometimes feel, to me, as if they're tapping into an intimate but collective unconscious.When I read the flash fiction in This Won't Take But a Minute, Honey, I had been writing them myself for the online 'zine, "The View from Here." *** After reading Steve Almond's, however, I'm no longer writing flash fiction. Perhaps one day I'll hit upo...

The writer's author. Highly recommend keeping this handy for savory snacking. Almond makes it look easy.

The essays are excellent, dark, attitude-filled lessons on writing, loaded with practical advice. The flash fiction is at times grim, poignant and funny, making you wish the stories were longer.

Daily vitamins for my writing regimen. Steve Almond is that sidewalk prophet treading the streets and trenches, baring purified measures of technical advice on the writing craft.If you flip this book on its front and turn it 180 degree's, you'll get 30 pieces of flash fiction that will satisfy your fix for fiction. I recommend this to you. It might be hard to find though. Try the Harvard's Bookstore; I think they have it for about 10 bucks. It's a small book, but you'll get a lot of mileage out

When it comes to talking about writing, whether it's at readings or on paper, Steve Almond is one of the most honest and inspiring writers on the subject. This little book features a bunch of short essays on one side and some of the author's flash fictions on the other. Steve's flashes are always poetic and sturdy but it's his thoughts on writing that make this an awesome read.

Steve Almond only sells this book at readings. It's a collection of 30 vignettes, which are a little hit-or-miss but have some truly shining moments, and a 30-part essay on writing which it would behoove every author to read. It includes subjects such as having a good bullshit detector, hurting your own and other's feelings, and why many of the things you think you're doing in your writing are pretty fucking dumb.