Word Riot Press recently published World Takes, a collection of stories by Timmy Waldron. Many of these stories appeared online in journals, including “Worry for the Well Rested” on pindeldyboz and “Things You Would Know About Paul if You Were His Friend” on eyeshot. And yet, buy the book for the ones that you can’t find online,  and to have this wonderfully shaped collection in its entirety. My philosophy about story collections is that  they are like albums more than novels. What story is chosen to go first, second, last and so forth, greatly shape the book. Often, there are a few “hits”.  Sometimes, there is filler. Many a poor collection revolve around only one or two good stories. This is not the case with Waldron’s World Takes.  Here is a collection perfectly shaped, with a strong punch of a first story, “Amanda”, that sets the dark, funny tone for the book.  READ MORE >