A Hollow Cube Is a Lonely Space by S.D. Foster
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
If you follow my reviews, you may have noticed that I review a lot of what’s classified as Bizarro fiction. A Hollow Cube is a Lonely Space by S.D. Foster is part of the New Bizarro Authors Series, which tests the waters with new writers. This one is a collection of short stories. Very short stories. And being from a new writer, this can sometimes be problematic. Fortunately, this collection works for the most part.
Among the stories are the life of an orange, a retiring giant monster, reflections on life by the dead, and a rat trying to work his way up in the world. One of the things that makes this collection so different is how surprisingly thoughtful these stories can be, especially when Foster takes something that’s so mundane and tries to paint it in a special light, or takes the extraordinary and makes it ordinary. Sometimes it works. Occasionally it doesn’t. But these stories are all generally pretty good.
The form and the voice work for the author, although the incredibly short length of these stories makes it difficult to become truly invested in any of them. It would be interesting to see Foster write in longer form, but not in the same voice. Still, it’s easy to recommend this book, and could make a good Bizarro introduction to new readers, or to readers with ADHD.
A Hollow Cube is a Lonely Space by S.D. Foster earns 3.5 plastic princesses out of 5.
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