Rachel Reviews: A Town Called Raymond by Raymond G. Taylor

I love a short story. A window into a world, concisely written with a barb to its tail (or tale?), they are a great way to be introduced to the writing of someone, with a view to further exploration into their longer works. A taster, if you will, to whet your literary appetite.

And that's what you have in this book, A Town Called Raymond which seems entirely apt considering its author. A small book, which reminds me of the Penguin Classic editions that were issued in the late 1990s - easy to fit into your pocket and digest in bite size chunks. These stories are no longer than 2, maybe 3 pages at most, and would be classified as microfiction; ones of 100 words only called drabbles are separated out in an alphabetic-by-title section called "Tales of the century", providing a snappy conclusion to a collection of good stories.

The stories that stood out the most for me were "The dying roses" with its distinctive voice and trace of humour with a great twist at the end; "Rendezvous" with its apocalyptic vision and misguided heroism; "Mischief" which is really a masterclass in having a story in 100 words from its dialogue at the beginning, hinting at historical dialogue and a gentleman's agreement to its savage end and the 'mischief' of its title which is much more than just a trick being played; "Ribbon" which leads you one way only to lead you another, setting up situations of opposite for the main character, David, leaving you in the place inbetween, wondering where his life ended up and whether he is just a man who likes ribbons or whether he is someone else entirely, living a life where ribbons are not allowed.

There is much here to please the reader and an eclectic mix of genres covered from science fiction, to impressions and small vignettes, to detective fiction to some horror - I mean, the man is versatile in his writing and is not afraid to share it!

A great starting sampler. If you have a short journey on the Tube and are already carrying a heavy bag, then this is the book for you.

Rachel Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

You can read more of the works of Raymond G. Taylor here: