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Reprise Review: In Decline / Michael Crane Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Short Story Collection / Literary Fiction


Michael Crane wrote his first novel in high school. Then his second (still while in high school). He’ll be the first to tell you not to read them if you stumble upon them. A few years honing his craft including a stint earning a degree in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago prepared him for prime time. In addition to In Decline, he has several short stories available from Amazon. He also has two collections of “drabbles” (flash fiction of exactly 100 words each) from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for you Kindle or Nook.  For more check out the author's blog.


Nine short stories of people getting by the best way they know how.


In Decline is a short story collection "about people who are trying to get by the best way they can." Life can be hard - regardless of what your life has been like, charmed or barely scraping by, chances are you'll see yourself or people you know in some of these stores. What boy hasn't struggled to figure out how to relate to girls and had friends only make it worse as happens in The Roller Rink? Who hasn't watched a couple marry, knowing it wasn't going to have a happy ending, like Uncle Lenny?

Crane has a talent very few writers have. He can find the humor in a dire situation or find a way to sympathize with the most dismal characters. Some say that to read fiction requires the reader to “suspend disbelief.” That’s not the case here. These stories ooze truth.


No Significant issues.