Alan Blackwood 
Snap Shots 

In his novel Writer »s Cramp, and Pot Shots, hisfirst collection of short stories, Alan Blackwoodalready displayed a great gift for brevity andeconomy of words. In Snap Shots , he hashoned this gift to perfection. These are notshort stories as such but sketches of characters, places and situations, brought vividly to life bya microscopic eye for what is just enough andnot a single word more. The fact that nearlyall are based on the author »s own experiencesbrings them into even sharper focus. Suchgem-like pieces, funny or sad or somewhere inbetween, are something quite new in the realmof the written word. »Alan Blackwood »s short stories arelike novels condensed to a single page, tantalising, evocative, poignant. »John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, Oxford University.