cover image Side Show: 1996 Annual Anthology of Contemporary Fiction

Side Show: 1996 Annual Anthology of Contemporary Fiction

. Somersault Press, $13 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-9630563-4-4

The 21 stories in this annual anthology collected through a contest is basically without a theme. Still, in their foreword, the editors explain their eclectic selections and offer an intriguing discussion of recurring subjects they see in submissions (``Childhood abuse/incest is still a dominant motif.''). There are three prize winners and three honorable mentions, but none really stands out from the other pieces. Lee Blackcrow's honorable mention, ``Meeting the Professor,'' barely skirts the banal in telling of a college professor who plays host to an Indian spiritual elder. The winner of First Prize, ``Melons'' by Janna King, overdramatizes a young boy's destruction of his grandfather's melon. Louisa Peck's ``Pretending It's Daytime'' is the tale of a baby-sitter who comes to fear and despise the creepy children she's caring for; while the details are perfect (the kids have a gerbil named Jason after the protagonist of Friday the 13th), nothing ever comes to a head. It's not that these are bad stories, but the majority have extremely polished veneers over rather mediocre structures, making them seem more like youthful creative writing exercises. In the end, this is readable short fiction that all blends together. (Jan.)