Flash fiction forward : 80 very short stories / edited by James Thomas and Robert Shapard.

Jumper down / Don Shea -- The memory priest of the Creech people / Paul Theroux -- Sashimi cashmere / Carolyn Forde -- The Barbie birthday / Alison Townshed -- Sweet sixteen / Gary D. Wilson -- Before the bath / Ismail Kadare -- Baker's helper / Cynthia Anderson -- Rumors of myself / Steve Almond -- Mandela was late / Peter Mehlman -- Sleeping / Katharine Weber -- Traditional style Indian garage / Chrytos -- How to set a house on fire / Stace Budzko -- The jalapeno contest / Ray Gonzalez -- Currents / Hannah Bottomy -- 1951 / Richard Bausch -- Bullet / Kim Church -- Consuming the view / Luigi Malerba -- The great open mouth anti-sadness / Ron Carlson -- Things you should know / A.M. Holmes -- Rose / John Biguenet -- Tiffany / Stacey Richter -- The fallguy's fate / Robert Coover -- The cats in the prison recreation hall / Lydia Davis -- Level / Keith Scribner -- Blind fish / Melanie Rae Thon -- The voices in my head / Jack Handey -- The old truth in Costa Rica / Lon Otto -- Why you shouldn't have gone in the first place / Samantha Schoech -- Mythologies / R.L. Futrell -- Reviving Pater / John Goulet -- Bullhead / Leigh Allison Wilson -- Accident / Dave Eggers -- All girl band / Utahna Faith -- I never looked / Donald Hall -- My date with Neanderthal woman / David Galef -- Fab 4 / Jenny Hall -- The Peterson fire / Barry Gifford -- Words / John A. McCaffrey -- The black city / Leonardo Alishman -- Justice, a beginning / Grace Paley -- That could have been you / Jim Heynen -- The wallet / Andrew McCuaig -- How to end up / Jennifer A. Howard -- The orange / Benjamin Rosenbaum -- 21 / Jim Crace -- Geometry can fail us / Barbara Jacksha -- To reduce your likeihood of murder / Ander Monson -- Oliver's evolution / John Updike -- The doctor / Ann Hood -- Crazy glue / Etgar Keret -- Pledge drive / Patricia Marx -- The handbag / Michael Augustin -- A patriotic angel / Mark Budman -- What were the white things? / Amy Hempel -- Map of the lost world / James Tate -- Bill / Dan Kaplan -- The kettle / Eva Marie Ginsburg -- Quill / Tony Earley -- Nicaragua / Kirk Nesset -- Parrot talk / Kite Covne Irwin -- I didn't do that / Tom Hazuka -- What I know of your country / John Leary -- The paperboy / Sherrie Flick -- Birth / Robert Earle -- Guidebook / Christopher Merrill -- Test / G.A. Ingersoll -- Drawer / Rick Moody 00:03:36:58 / Bayard Godsave -- The good life / David Ryan -- Fruit series / Opal Palmer Adisa -- Initials etched on a dining-room table, Lockport, Nova Scotia / Peter Orner -- Mr. Nikos Nikou / Ersi Sotiropoulos -- Three soldiers / Bruce Holland Rogers -- The mesmerit / Michael Knight -- Toasters / Pamela Painter -- Diagnostic drift / Michael Martone -- You don't know anything / Kathleen Wheaten -- Traveling alone / Rob Carney -- The death of a short story / J. David Stevens.

An anthology of bite-sized tales represents the work of some of today's best fiction writers and includes Rick Moody's definition of an armoire, Lydia Davis's sojourn into the world of cats, and Dave Eggers's exploration of narrow escapes.