The Ballad of St. Katherine

About the Book

Katherine is a strange Bronx girl who “hears” the voices of the constellations. Abetted by a building super and a disgraced NASA administrator, she becomes a revered faith healer, only to be betrayed by her inner voice, when it tells her to have a child.

Set in eras ranging from the sixties to the near future, Simon’s stories blend sexual tension, religious feeling, intellect and madness into a compelling brew. In a senior-living facility, a man plots murder with a woman he believes to be a famous author. A philosophy professor and her boyfriend contemplate suicide. Their every move followed by cameras, the contestants in a reality show need to complete a “main task,” but no one knows what it is. After years on the run from the F.B.I., a bank robber enters a monastery, while his lover/accomplice stews in boredom.

In the words of one of Simon’s characters: “The sacred and the profane lie close together, separated by the thinnest membrane, almost nothing.” Breeching this boundary, The Ballad of St. Katherine presents a fascinating set of personalities, some slain by their obsessions, others able to come to terms with their lives, or their deaths.

About the Author

Norman Simon grew up in New York City. Following postgraduate education, he assumed a professorial position teaching and conducting research in astrophysics. In addition to many articles in scientific journals, he has published several short stories and a number of his plays have been produced or given staged readings in the Midwest and elsewhere. This is his first story collection.