ADDLED ESSENCE

About the Book

ADDLED ESSENCE The most plausible excuse for a short story collection as varied and scrambled as this one is that it’s a grab bag of oddities that couldn’t be disguised within a sensibly-themed book. But anchored by the longest, Addled Essence, a belated story of two late teen KoreanWar veterans lost within themselves on a varied road trip of self-discovery as told years later in grandfather-hood, it compiles a litany of characters, situations and philosophy that forms an eccentric saga. A few titles from the other thirty-eight stories might produce reader vertigo: Idas’s Journey, Anonymous Anonymity, Matters Most Private, Excess Baggage, Celestial Bar and Grill, All In and Then Some, Brother and Sister Act, Human Factors in Daily Life, Wake the Dead and An Infinite Instant. Birth, Burglary, Childhood, Death, Drugs, Family, Fantasy, Fate, Fear, Humor, Love, Movies, Murder, Parody, Parents, Poker, Police, Politics, Psychoses and Senior-hood soar throughout like birds gone mad on alcohol-laced nut meats. These tales are an acquired taste for those who walk, lope or run on the literary wild side.

About the Author

The less said the better at this late date in my life. Suffice to say that I have had an especially fortunate existence in a place and time that gave me many opportunities for a reasonable passage of childhood, adult and elder. Nature can be ruthless and not every personal path is pleasant. Good luck played a role and I’ve had the luxury of indulging my imagination through language. Could I have I done more, or different? Yes, but probably worse. My Irish and German immediate ancestry made me both impatient and disciplined, but also snarky, so I made what I could of what was available and wrote many short stories. Both early novels grew from multi-character tales: (Soldier Boys, Mesa Beach), to be followed by five long collections (Childhood Country, Rapture Runner, Parlous Passion, Hunching Homeward, and Soshal Scientz). My last novel was Suya’s Song; now this collection, Addled Essence. If by perverse chance I write any more stories, they shall probably float in the euphoria that has attended my tireless scribbles and joyous pastime. I’ll be most remembered by family and friends for abusing a portable typewriter and three computers. In any case, my solitary pursuit of literary excellence, a challenging endeavor, was undertaken with the modest intention of speaking personally with readers: Here’s what I’m thinking and feeling; how about you?