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Welcome to Dashipedia. This resource is intended to throw some light on the creative process behind Jonathan Pinnock's short story collection Dot Dash. In many ways, this is nothing more than a vain (in more than one sense) attempt to burnish the reputation of the author as a writer of short fiction. However, it is also possible that some may find it interesting and, indeed, instructive.

Also, Wikis can be fun.

The inspiration behind each of the stories in the book may be found here (insofar as the author can remember it), along with any unusual trivia and/or amusing anecdotes.

The Stories

There are a total of 58 stories in the book - 29 dots (the very short ones) and 29 dashes (the not-so-short ones). This is how they appear in the table of contents:

• Not So Much a Rough Guide
• rZr and Napoleon
• The Drought
• Convalescence
• Surveillance
• Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions
• Steaming
• The Amazing Arnolfini and His Wife
• Pulse
• Breathe In, Breathe Out
• Fair Trade
• Nature’s Banquet
• Internal Affairs
• Return to Cairo
• Think Tank
• The Problem With Pork
• After the Rapture
• Natural Selection
• Less Than Deadly
• Possible Side Effects
• Misunderstandings
• Mr Nathwani’s Haiku
• The Experiment
• Anniversary Feast
• Perfect Moment
• How I Became a New Man and What Good It Did Me
• Love Story, Day One
• The Guitarist’s Inheritance
• Love Story, Week One
• So What Are You Up To These Days?
• Love Story, Month One
• Fishermen’s Tales
• Love Story, Year One
• Hidden Shallows
• Opposites
• Advice re Elephants
• Big Teeth
• The Birdman of Farringdon Road
• Making Conversation
• Piss and Patchouli
• “I Love You”
• A Plague of Yellow Plastic Ducks
• Frogs
• Mirror, Mirror
• Inbox
• The Magnolia Bedroom
• Tribute Act
• The Last Words of Emanuel Prettyjohn
• Bad Grammar
• Farewell Symphony
• Under the Statue
• At Nana’s
• Proper Job
• After Michelangelo
• Sidelong
• Canine Mathematics
• Upwardly Mobile
• Somewhat Less Than Thirty Pieces