Ben East Books

Author: Ben East

  • B.A. East

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    Ben East
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    Novelist Foreign Service Officer Returned Peace Corps Volunteer B.A. East taught English Lit and Composition in Malawi as a Peace Corps Volunteer, at Brooklyn College Academy in New York, and at the American School of Asuncion in Paraguay. Later he joined the State Department’s Foreign Service, taking assignments in Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Ghana, Mexico, and…

  • UN-der Woman

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    Ben East
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    Last month the high-flying poobas of the world donned their UNGA-wear and boarded private jets to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Oh! How they did clog the streets of Gotham in pursuit of… What exactly is it they pursued beyond a display of wealth and power? And now the UN—it’s very name suggestive of nothingness, the opposite…

  • Sad Sock Story

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    Ben East
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    This story tells itself. A first grader gives his socks real personality. And attitude.

  • Debate Predictions

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    Ben East
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    With an hour til tip-off, here’s how my money rides. The number of times Trump does the following ten things: Sniffs the mic: 120+ Makes a tiny circle with his thumb and forefinger: 30+ References rigged elections: 20+ Notes Hillary’s lies: 15+ Notes Hillary’s corruption: 15+ Says “Crooked Hillary”: 12+ Lauds his business smarts: 12+…

  • Absentee Ballot

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    Ben East
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    Here I sit, brokenhearted Came to vote but only farted.* How the air is thickening! Oh, the stink is sickening! I have to choose between these two? I’m on the throne just let me poo! I’ll never again vote absentee While squatting here, in luxury. Don’s soft wipe will be mine soon That hair of his…

  • Short Stories from the School for Damaged Children

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    Ben East
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    Deep oppression pervades Brian Booker’s collection of seven stories Are You Here for What I’m Here For? (Bellevue Literary Press, 2016). The mood is confining, suffocating, maddening, the writing evocative of a heart pulsing beneath the floorboards of a cabin far from anywhere. Booker awakens—allays—awakens—allays—and awakens again profound tensions: Something is wrong. Everything is ok. But something is…

  • Joe Camel, Still Cool

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    Ben East
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    Yesterday a friend of mine posted our first-through-fourth grade photos online. Got me thinking about this old story in the hopper 20 years. I dragged it out and dusted it off and submit it now for your entertainment. It’s all about that first cigarette. This is to the memory of those no longer with us, Trevor and…

  • Oscar Keye Is Dead, Long Live Oscar Keye!

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    Ben East
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    Oscar Keye is dead and I am free: I just delivered my latest manuscript to the publisher. Freedom… Fiction always begins as escape, a jailbreak, a mad dash for wild, unknown quarters. Fiction itself is freedom, turning the mundane into the extraordinary! The bones of my being are loose-jointed things hooked by springs and oiled…

  • Thank You Hollywood, No Thank You

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    Ben East
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    Dear Mr. Hollywood, I read with interest your letter and proposed film adaptation of Two Pumps for the Body Man. Though your concept falls short of my artistic vision for a film version of the book, I’m not opposed to exploring the matter further if you will concede a few preliminary points: 1. Our femme fatale needs to be younger than what you propose. True,…

  • Guy Walks Into a Bar

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    Ben East
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    Guy walks into a bar. Orders a Preston Lang. Barkeep asks, “What’s a Preston Lang?” “Rye. With a hint of the barrel.” “Neat?” “Yeah. That too.” Anyone who missed Lang’s first two crime paperbacks, The Carrier and The Blind Rooster, ought to jump right in and read The Sin Tax. Hard, straight writing. Contemporary plot.…