Twenty Questions: Synopsis

My first book, published in 1998, Twenty Questions is a collection of my short and very short stories, sequenced in alternation. The short stories are well-developed narratives, while each of the very short stories attempts to capture a moment, render it in vivid detail — and give it a twist.

Most of the stories are about men and women in their 20s and early 30s — the phase of life during which I wrote the book. The pieces are character-driven and typically concern relationships: romantic, friendly, collegial, adversarial. I’m intrigued by the conflicts within people, the conflicts between them and the manner in which those conflicts are — or aren’t — resolved.

I called the collection Twenty Questions because there are twenty stories, each of which concludes in an open-ended fashion that encourages the reader to bring something of him- or herself to the piece.