Book Review: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1
By hitRECord & Joseph Gordon-Levitt
It Books
Publication date: December 6, 2011
ISBN: 978-0062121660
 
"The universe is not made of atoms; it's made of [tiny] stories." -Muriel Rukeyser [& wirrow]

Actor/artist/producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt created the website hitRECord as a place where artists of every kind can come together and collaborate. A creative commons like environment, it's considered an "open-collaborative production company." Essentially, all users work together to create art, whether it's by adding images, photos, texts, footage, music, etc. One person can submit a drawing. Another dabbles with it. Another adds text. Another colors it in. Etc. All work is everyone's.

Since its inception, there have been live shows, films, CDs, shirts, documentaries and more. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 is the first collaborative tiny book. The book's goal is to showcase that a big idea can come from a tiny story.

From first looking at it, the book is adorable. It is tiny, about the size of my hand, but the stories are not. They may be short in words, but not in ideas. Each tiny tale is accompanied by a drawing representing it. Each little story is a collaborative effort, as noted in the back where each contributor is listed

I really enjoyed the book. The stories range from sweet to sad, beautiful to funny. With each being so short, it's easy to finish the book in less than an hour. But, despite it being such a short read, it's really one that sticks with you. Reminiscent of the Six-Word Memoir books, it's more touching, more charming. Perhaps it's because there's no limit on words, but still. It's amazing how a full story can be told in just a handful of words and one image. It's terrific how people can work together to produce a final concept.

The Tiny Stories project is still going on, and still encouraging people to participate. So if you're interested in lending an idea, an image, a word to a story, go for it. Perhaps you'll be featured in volume 2, a sequel I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing.



Learn more about hitRECord here.