If white rabbits and colored eggs can symbolize Christianity’s holiest day, then why not boots? I’m in reboot mode after considerable turmoil to my writing framework. Turmoil here isn’t used in the negative. Jesus Christ Himself (Jesus H. Christ, to some) achieved his greatest miracle on waves of enormous turmoil. Turmoil forces us to react, … Continue reading April Reboot
short story
An ounce of hope, a Fifth of futility
Review: God in Neon by Sam Slaughter Sam Slaughter’s collection of stories features protagonists paddling up a great river of booze. Their strokes are futile, the current strong: with beer, tequila, whiskey, Old Crow, Jack, PBR. They struggle under the blurry burden of constant intoxication, their boozing not an act so much as a reality, … Continue reading An ounce of hope, a Fifth of futility
Short Fiction–Swimming
Peace Corps Worldwide carried the following review of Karl Luntta's Swimming from SUNY press. One thing is certain for foreigners at work in much of Africa: the proverbs can be as colorful as they are vague, utilitarian as they are vexing. The truth can emerge—or remain obscured—with a single phrase. Truth, in these proverbs, lies in the … Continue reading Short Fiction–Swimming
Cheney: still wrong after all these years
Former veep, elegantly cloaked in fiction Crediting Dick Cheney for his rebuke of Donald Trump's bigotry gets no traction with me. Sorry Dick: you can’t make up for decades of reckless decisions and bad policy based on one easy moment of obvious decency. You’re still a modern architect of the very party now on the verge of nominating a racist … Continue reading Cheney: still wrong after all these years
The Patron Saint of Juvenile Delinquents
Everyone who's grown up Catholic has a few stories to share, long or short. The good folks at The Citron Review were good enough to publish one of my really short ones: CONFIRMATION Mrs. Dever sees their faces but can’t remember what to call them. They all look alike. They all look bored. They all look … Continue reading The Patron Saint of Juvenile Delinquents
Review: Shriver
Chris Belden’s Shriver might be called a book about a novelist who wrote a book called Goat Time which everybody seems to enjoy but nobody seems to have read, at least not entirely, including not the author Shriver himself. Add to this nonsensical loop a few day’s worth of swarming mosquitoes, a crate or two … Continue reading Review: Shriver
Review: When You Cross That Line
The short line-up of characters in Sam Slaughter’s collection lead lives you’d rather not lead yourself, and therein lies the charm. The unnamed narrator of When You Cross That Line is moving to Florida when he has a run-in with an alligator salesman. The episode turns from odd to ugly, leaving the narrator in search of a swamp, … Continue reading Review: When You Cross That Line
Carnival Fiction
I've got some new short fiction over at Revolution John, a sample from my latest project: church shorts. Who doesn't love the annual church bazaar? Whack-a-Mole Full story 600 words.
Review–Pathologies
If laughter is good medicine, William Walsh presents sick remedy in Pathologies. His short collection of diseased proceedings is more than the sum of its madness. Walsh is a gifted writer, by turns astounding with sharp phrases and surprising with brief, unpredictable arcs. One way to treat this is by engaging the peculiar brilliance of individual … Continue reading Review–Pathologies
Winning Big at the County Fair
I could do without the county fair. I don’t like crowds. I’d rather not stand in line for pricey food known to cause obesity and heart attacks. I don’t care for the “Twirling Tots” act on center stage advertising just how little talent exists at the local dance school, and I think Mutts Gone Nutts … Continue reading Winning Big at the County Fair
Ben East Books 