Author Sal Nudo: I began “Abruptions” fully intending to enjoy the stories and respecting author Jack Matthews’ attempt to hijack the art of storytelling by writing “very short stories that end abruptly.” I’ve written and published fiction in the same manner and so was curious to read the work of another author who specializes in this somewhat risky style of fiction.

The preface of “Abruptions” does a good job explaining, straight from the author’s pen, what this book is all about. My favorite description of abruptions from this section is when Matthews writes, “Abruptions can reach down to dimensions of wonder and speculation that are commonly thought to be the proper domain of poetry.” I’m not a poet or a big fan of poetry, but this musing prepared me for—even got me excited for—the stories to come. Later in the preface he writes, “Often in a well-designed abruption, what might appear to be an amputation—a gratuitous chopping off of a story’s end—is actually the final, sudden emergence of a latent theme in the story, fulfilling a pattern that has been at work beneath the surface machinery that drives the plot.”

I guess all this is true within these stories, but the problem is that the narratives, for the most part, lack tension. They are everyday happenings and observations with depth but no bite. After reading about person after person in hundreds of ultra-short stories, it all begins to run together. Nothing is memorable, and the endings don’t leave you wanting more. The bits that are worthy are quickly forgotten. In fact, the more I read, the more I began to think of these stories as being pretentious in spots.

Matthews is a solid writer who had a knack for capturing the human spirit. His characters think deeply, though their emotions, as written, come off as empty. It was also interesting to read about life from decades past. One story about a movie-theater proprietor, for instance, takes place in the 1930s. Another piece about a woman observing life outside her window, to her husband’s chagrin, was mildly stimulating, as was a narrative that took place within a bar. But after a while, all I could do was quickly scan what I was reading and move on. The author seemed to intend these stories to be that way, so in that sense, mission accomplished.

Other Praise for Jack Matthews’ Fiction

“Mr. Matthews is a master of prose conversation and deadpan charm. He is ironic, cool, and shrewd, and he writes a lucid prose.”
—Tom O’Brien, New York Times Book Review

“Jack Matthews proves once again that he is in the top one percent of American fiction writers. Witty, polished, wise, ironic, with deep insight into the dark recesses of the human heart, Matthews’ stories are often intense and humorous at the same time.”
— W.P. Kinsella (Author of Shoeless Joe)

“Few contemporary writers can – or want to – compose stories in the narrow tunnel of the interior, the rutted trail of memory between mind and heart, sometimes shutting out other people as well as time and place and usual props. Matthews takes us there, carrying a bright light.”
— Art Seidenbaum, Los Angeles Times