Fine collection of ultra-short fiction; Short Shorts: An Anthology of the Shortest Stories, edited by Irving Howe and Ilana Wiener Howe. Boston: David R. Godine. 262 pp. $12.95.

This fine collection, containing a delicate balance of famous stories, forgotten treasures, and little-known work mostly by European contemporary writers is prefaced by Howe's hard-working introduction. The sheer virtuosity shown here is amazing - a wonderful idea, wonderfully well executed.