CHARLESTON – October 30, 2026 -- Brechtian, a fifteen-story flash fiction anthology by debut author Asher Rush, is now available online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Palmetto Publishing released the collection, which covers action, romance, and biblical tragedy.
Narrators interrupt themselves and argue with readers
Every story in the book is told by a narrator who breaks the fourth wall. The title nods to Bertolt Brecht's theatrical tradition of shattering the stage illusion, and Rush applies the same approach to the page.
The anthology opens with X, a self-described "near miss assassin" who wakes in a hospital bed and trades sharp dialogue with a nurse. He is a trained killer who has never completed a job. Later stories feature a villager hanged for honesty and a reluctant vampire cursed to become something worse.
The Romance and Love section brings a Cupid who cannot fall in love
That section also includes a wraith haunting a guilt-stricken preacher, a beast bargaining for his humanity, and a tombstone named Epitaph who outlives every friend he makes. The book closes with a retelling of the biblical prince Avshalom, a rebellious son at war with his father in a revolt born of love.
Rush cites Spaceballs as an inspiration
Rush says he loved the whimsy of Spaceballs and always wanted to create his own satirical work. His goal: "If the reader can be moved to tears, laughter, or joy even slightly, I have succeeded."
The collection is aimed at fans of Douglas Adams, Christopher Moore, and Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, as well as the BookTok audience. Rush is a writer and poet from West Orange, New Jersey, who joined his high school poetry team. He says poetry taught him the economy and precision that shape these compact stories.