A Sudden Story by Robert Coover

Take that, sour breath!

Robert Coover has been on my literary radar forever—one of those big name short story writers form the '80s that you keep hearing about never quite get around to reading. I finally decided to change that and started with A Sudden Story, which, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. It's like starting a meal with the mint they give you after dinner at a fancy restaurant.

The story is, well, sudden. Like, “wait, that’s it?” kind of sudden. It's only a single paragraph. 

I tend to be apprehensive around super-short stories because it's very difficult to pull off successfully without veering into gimmick territory or fizzling out as an intellectual exercise in futility.  Sadly, this one leans more toward the latter.

I think Coover might be trying to mess around with classical archetypies (hero vs dragon tropes or dig at something deeper about storytelling itself, but if there’s hidden meaning here, it went right over my head The word “sudden” and it's derivations keep popping up like it’s important, but…important how? 

Your guess is as good as mine.

To be fair, it’s hard to pack emotional depth into something that could fit on a sticky note. The result isn’t bad, just kind of innocuous. You read it, shrug, and move on with your day. More of a literary palate cleanser than a full-course meal.

You can read this story HERE.