Shirley Zussman

Five Minute Limit Shirley Zussman

This is an anthology of prose and poetry written by members of a writers' group that has been meeting every Friday morning for the past seven years, in a room on 76th street in Manhattan, not far from the East River. Ranging in age from 65 to 102, some members take time off from their careers to write and meet, including the 102 year old. Some are retired and have plenty of time to write these pithy, quirky pieces. The members bring copies of their writing to each meeting to distribute and read to the group; a discussion follows. There are no limits on what the members can write: the only rule is that the piece take no longer than five minutes to read aloud. That's why the title of this anthology is FIVE MINUTE LIMIT, and that's why all of these pieces are short, as every item selected was originally read to the group on a Friday morning. The pieces themselves are as wide-ranging as the lives and experiences of the authors, from memoirs of childhood, whether in New York or other cities or countries; fictional stories about relationships, life experiences, visions of the future; essays on politics, aging, New York life, shopping; quite a lot of humor, including limericks; and some modern poetry. This is a book to sample, not to read straight through. There is much variety, but everything in the book reflects the experiences and shared humanity of the writers.