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.