Shame by Iris N. Schwartz: A Review

By

Niles Reddick

Iris N. Schwartz’s latest collection of flash fiction Shame (Poets Wear Prada) is a small collection that packs a considerable punch. It’s Schwartz’s second collection of flash; her first was My Secret Life with Chris Noth. Previously, she co-authored a collection of poems Awakened (Rogue Scholars Press) with Madeline Artenberg and has published multiple stories in well-respected literary journals including Jellyfish Review, Connotation Press, The Flash Fiction Press, and many others.

Whether it’s a character trapped in an abusive relationship, micro pieces about cousins at a fair, understanding new math, or “Shame”, the lead story about a patient who has to experience his own diaper being changed, Schwartz keeps the reader’s attention, keeps the reader turning pages, and at the end, keeps the reader wanting more of her stories.

Not all of the stories are serious. There is “Gifts from God” a micro piece that contains a well of humor and “Fur”, a strange piece that keeps one guessing, and one of my favorites “Safety First”, that is a cathartic dream experience.

For the flash fiction connoisseur, Shame is a must read. Schwartz’s brilliance and creativity shine in her ability to tell a story, describe aspects of it, and illustrate the characters in it. There are nuggets of gold description throughout, like the mother in “Dime-Store Bandits” who has ESP—extra sucrose perception—and always knows when her daughter had eaten chocolate.

Shame is a fine and precise collection and stays with you after the end like an expensive and savory desert.

‘Shame and other stories’ is published by Poets Wear Prada – ISBN-13:978-1-946116-01-7

Iris N. Schwartz

Iris N. Schwartz is the author of more than forty works of fiction. She is currently working on a novel comprised of flash chapters. Her literary fiction has been published in dozens of journals and anthologies, including “101 Words,” “Flash Fiction Friday,” “Gravel,” and “Quail Bell Review.” In addition, Ms. Schwartz has written erotica, most notably the story “Hedonics,” anthologized in “Stirring Up a Storm: Tales of the Sensual, the Sexual, and the Erotic” (Running Press). “Awakened,” a collection of her poems with those of Madeline Artenberg, was published by Rogue Scholars Press. “My Secret Life with Chris Noth: And Other Stories” is her first short short story collection. Ms. Schwartz lives in New York City with actor David B. McConeghey. Visit Iris’ Amazon page.

Niles Reddick

Niles Reddick’s is author of a new collection Reading the Coffee Grounds and Other Stories as well as the Pulitzer nominated novel Drifting too far from the Shore, a collection Road Kill Art and Other Oddities, and a novella Lead Me Home. His work has been featured in eleven anthologies/collections and in over a hundred and fifty literary magazines all over the world including Cheap Pop, Pure Slush, Drunk Monkeys, Spelk, The Arkansas Review: a Journal of Delta Studies, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Slice of Life, Faircloth Review, among many others. Reddick works for the University of Memphis, Lambuth campus, in Jackson, Tennessee. His website is: www.nilesreddick.com