In his novel Writer's Cramp, and Pot Shots, his first collection of short stories, Alan Blackwood already displayed a great gift for brevity and economy of words. In Snap Shots , he has honed this gift to perfection. These are not short stories as such but sketches of characters, places and situations, brought vividly to life by a microscopic eye for what is just enough and not a single word more. The fact that nearly all are based on the author's own experiences brings them into even sharper focus. Such gem-like pieces, funny or sad or somewhere in between, are something quite new in the realm of the written word. 'Alan Blackwood's short stories are like novels condensed to a single page, tantalising, evocative, poignant.' John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, Oxford University.