Synopsis/blurb....
“Scenarios” was written for The Dark End of the Street, an anthology that explores the interface between crime and literary fiction. My friends S. J. Rozan and Jonathan Santlofer teamed up to edit the volume, and I was invited to participate, along with such writers as Laura Lippman, Stephen L. Carter, Madison Smartt Bell, Lee Child, Amy Hempel, Jonathan Lethem, Joyce Carol Oates, and Edmund White. Someone suggested "Scenarios" might be categorized as Post-Modern Noir. Since that phrase pairs two terms, each of which means different things to different people, I have to say I'm fine with it. My story is dark and erotic and violent—or is it?
Another short read in the merry month of May from legendary author Lawrence Block.
The story concerns a man with a knife in his pocket cruising bars for the perfect woman. Block has a bit of fun with the reader offering possible directions events can take...... he uses the knife, maybe he doesn't, maybe the hard look from a female bartender seals her fate, maybe he gets slipped a mickey and his potential victim uses it on him when he comes to - all tied up, maybe he chickens out and has an encounter and the knife stays in his pocket until next time.
Interesting, fun, and another one of Block's many works, albeit a minor one scratched off the list.
A good time was had for 15 minutes or so. 
4 from 5
Read - May, 2022
Published - 2011
Page count - 17
Source - Kindle Unlimited
Format - Kindle
It does sound like a fun story, Col. And it's interesting do a story that invites the reader to speculate; that's not easy to pull off! Of course, it is Lawrence Block, so I shouldn't be surprised it came off well.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It's definitely quite quirky in how the author speaks to the reader.
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