Book Review:

This debut collection of flash fiction satirizes politics, pop culture, and self-expressionism.

The title of "Beware of the Charlatan," an early entry in this book, gets straight to the point. The Charlatan is a leader who proclaims that Pi is simply 3.14, not an irrational number; anyone who disagrees with that or whatever he preaches is demonically possessed. Several characters in these 19 stories hold similar positions of power over others. These minityrants include politicians and a domineering village head. In "The Empathy Development Experiment," Dr. Singh subjugates his test subject-a convicted murderer. Fullah ridicules attention hounds on social media as well as those who idolize status symbols or other humans. The author also tackles serious topics, like misogyny and racial and sexual discrimination. For example, "The Politician," written in response to the Supreme Court's overturning Roe v. Wade, follows a family man whose plan to outlaw abortion has a disturbing motive. Like most satire, these condensed tales revel in dark humor, and many take unsettling turns that end in violence and/or death. But there are touches of additional genres as well. The SF "Across the Universe," for one, showcases a NASA astronomer trying to form an emotional connection with newly contacted aliens. "The Anti-Incubus" plays like a horror story, featuring a diabolical presence that seemingly invades dreams.

Many of Fullah's stories abandon subtlety; the villainous source of corruption tends to be an amoral politician or a narcissistic celebrity. In the case of "A Village With Only Men," the narrator opens blatantly with: "I hated women. They had ruined my life. A misogynist? Incel? I gladly accepted those labels." The author doesn't often veil the satirical target; in "The American Dream," Vlad's scheme against citizens in a New England town begins with using a local physician to create a host of oxycodone addicts. Nevertheless, certain stories take a more understated approach. In "Life in Blue," for example, Penelope can't see the color blue and strives to see what others can; it's a cutting, critical assessment on conformity and waning individuality. The collection's most discernible theme is, unexpectedly, isolation, either by choice or circumstances. In one tale, a popular violinist further separates himself from his starry-eyed fans by convincing them to turn on one another; in another tale, Lyla, who's grown weary of adjusting her "multiple identities" to suit others, prefers solitude. A few stories might have been even better if they were slightly longer. That's certainly true for the hilarious "Ancestors," in which the afterlife may not be all it's purported to be. The narrator spends posthumous days in the cosmos with his late ancestors, people of clashing cultures and personalities whose perpetually annoying traits could spark more enjoyable scenes.

An unforgettable cluster of entertaining, topical, and hard-hitting stories. -- Kirkus Reviews