Summary

An anthology of stories that vary widely, ranging from light-heartedly comic to a serious focus on contemporary issues.  Stylistically, they move from realism to magic realism, and in length they vary from short-short to novella. 

The title story projects the future of two young men who have been warm, close friends since grade school and now face a separation they cannot mention.  “Horses,” a short-short story told in magic realism, examines the relationship of a young boy and the girl-next-door while playing “horses,” a backyard basketball game.  “Aunt Rose Lee and the War of the Roses” is a light-hearted (and perhaps grisly?!) view of a woman who treasures American southern traditions and who has to struggle to fend off a developer intent on tearing down treasured monuments, and “The Good Stuff” is a happy story that removes a man from a dull marriage of merely settling.  “A Candy-Red, Fat-Wheeled Schwinn,” another magic realism story, looks at Thomas Wolfe’s statement that “you can’t go home again” and asks, “Oh, really?  But what if. . . ?” 

In contrast, “Snipe Hunting” (Grand Prize winner of the Eric Hoffer contest, and there is a powerful review of this story on Amazon.com where it appeared in Best New Writing 2010 ) is a gritty realistic story of war and its aftermaths, “Canon in D” soberly examines mercy killing, and “Moon ‘Scape” is a tribute to grand ladies of the theatre when they face the end of a rich career.  “The Paperclip Dean” mourns the destruction of idealism.  Baker Street fans will enjoy “Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Devil’s Raven,” a novella in authentic Conan Doyle style. 

Those nine stories, plus two others, promise a happy reading experience.      

Each story is introduced by author’s notes.