Snap Shots

In his novel Writer’s Cramp, and Pot Shots, his

first collection of short stories, Alan Blackwood

already displayed a great gift for brevity and

economy of words. In Snap Shots , he has

honed this gift to perfection. These are not

short stories as such but sketches of characters,

places and situations, brought vividly to life by

a microscopic eye for what is just enough and

not a single word more. The fact that nearly

all are based on the author’s own experiences

brings them into even sharper focus. Such

gem-like pieces, funny or sad or somewhere in

between, are something quite new in the realm

of the written word.

‘Alan Blackwood’s short stories are

like novels condensed to a single page,

tantalising, evocative, poignant.’

John Carey, Emeritus Professor of

English Literature, Oxford University.