Static: Stories by Fred Pelzer

Frederick Pelzer opens his debut collection of short fiction entitled Static: Stories with a short conversation between three people in a bar, and the reflection the narrator has in regards to his own life following this conversation. The other pieces of flash fiction reflect a similar realistic tone throughout the book, with Pelzer’s snippets reflecting the quiet, often overlooked moments in life. Pelzer’s descriptive style allows the reader to really picture each moment described in each short piece with ease, and the clarity the characters discover in small, seemingly insignificant moments in life gives a sense that every moment is important in its own way.

Pelzer’s short, staccato style is perfect for the length of the pieces within this compilation, and although they are not necessarily related to one another, a definitive tone carries through the entire work as a whole. Pelzer’s collection is an interesting take on the seemingly meaningless background moments in our lives that aren’t actually so meaningless after all, and this collection serves as a great reminder that the small moments count, too. Static: Stories reminds us that life is ultimately made up of more small moments than large ones, so it doesn’t hurt to reflect on them every once in a while. A few may even be large moments after all.