It was by way of an article by Lydia Davis in The New Yorker last December that I first heard of this book / pamphlet.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/osama-alomars-very-short-tales
Alomar fled Syria six years ago, leaving behind not only friends and his culture but also an established literary career.
These are short short stories, like Lydia Davis’s, but these are more powerful and urgent. Some stories are about concepts that become concrete objects or even personified.

PRICELESS
After years of searching, I was finally led to the place where I could see Freedom. She was on exhibit in a museum surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by thousands of heavily armed men. She looked sad and broken. When I asked on of the guards why she was there, he pulled me strongly by the arm and whispered in my ear, "She's priceless!"

They talk of freedom, beauty, love, politics, oppression.

TONGUE TIE
Before leaving for work I tied my tongue into a great tie. My colleagues congratulated me on my elegance. They praised me to our boss, who expressed admiration and ordered all employees to follow my example!

This very slim booklet is much too short. I’m looking forward to finding more work from this eloquent and poetic writer.
Highly recommended! ( )

Very short fiction. Prose poems. ( )