Fiction for the Digital Age and Sowell
There's Always Something New Under the Sun Department: Microfiction. It's a short story in 300 or fewer words. Or, according to Wikipedia, 100 or fewer words.
If you're wordy, you might try "flash fiction" (1,000 words). If you're really brief, try Twitterature (280 characters).
I made my first venture into the genre yesterday with this piece at Medium in the new "F is for Fiction" publication. But if you don't want to click the link:
Ambition: A Climb to the Top in 99 Words
D1 felt scrunched. He was as big as the guys immediately above him, bigger than most of the guys around him, and lots bigger than everyone below him. He deserved to be higher, where things were better.
He sneaked past D2 and got a little bit higher.
He tricked D3 into trading places and moved up.
He bullied D4 into trading places and climbed high.
He beat D5 in a fight, which put him on top, where he rubbed shoulders with the other top Ds.
Then the bag of Doritos was opened and D1 was the first to be eaten.
I just finished Thomas Sowell's 2018 Discrimination and Disparities. Man, the guy is simply brilliant. The book dealt a crippling blow to the whole notion of "systemic racism" two years before the term gained widespread currency.
After reading this, I'm inclined to think that, instead of using the phrase "systemic racism," it ought to be "governmental program racism." Almost everything the BLM-types claim is "systemic" racism is just the result of government intervention in the name of racial justice.
Great book. Easy read. Highly recommended.
