Short Stories Books

"The Silence or the Loons" © 2005

These are a bunch of stories by Minnesota authors (where else do you find loons but Minnesota?). It is a structured story set up: the authors had to put in some reference to a pink ballet sipper and lutefisk or something else like that, so that all the stories had a sort of, tenuous, connection. They were all very interesting. There was the one of the cop who was having fun with a farm wife, who needed the fun. The odd one from Le Seuer, Mn., where she missed 'Wednesday night bingo at the Lutheran Church!' Who ever heard of bingo in a Lutheran church?

This anthology is a great read! I love mysteries of all kinds. This book of short stories is good for reading while traveling or while sitting waiting for an app't since most stories are just a few pp in length. The stories vary greatly in subject. I look forward to reading more from these authors.

Anthologies are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get. In this box of chocolate loons and a cormorant or two from the Land of Sky Blue Waters, the reader gets, as Garrison Keillor would say, the "pretty good" ( (Pat Dennis and David Housewright,) the OK (Wm Kent Krueger staying on terra mudda he knows,) and Judith Guest's ever-present Edina angst (resulting in another "Hunh?' Moment for this reader.) Each of the contributing Minnesota mystery writers tells a tale with 4 of 8 shared elements. Can you guess the common currents? (If not, peek at the list in the back.) If you can relate to M.D. Lake's assessment `of whose residents `fine dining' brought up memories of lutefisk suppers in the church basement" then bring this book up to the cabin with you . /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

Thirteen tales of mystery come from Minnesota's best crime writers: while some will be familiar names, such as Ellen Hart and Judith Guest, others will be newcomers to mystery fans outside of the region. These come from a local writer's club which promotes their publications and unites the contributors in an enjoyable pursuit: each received a set of eight clues to serve as a pool, and they were asked to include at least four of these clues in their story. The creative results are wonderfully intriguing and varied.

While writers of the southwest in particular write of the broiling heat of summer, writers of a Minnesota background seem to write about the brutal cold of the winter. That brutal cold of the winter is certainly a factor in a number of stories here but not in all of them. The stories do share a number of clues that had to be encompassed in each story. I'm not going to ruin the clue list by explaining it here but it's a good one. So too are the stories in this anthology.

Carl Brookins who, among other things, wrote the excellent comedic mystery novel "The Case Of The Greedy Lawyers" which I have reviewed here and elsewhere contributes "A Winter's Tale." For the recluse, the snowstorm is bad enough but he really doesn't need to find the lost traveler nearly dead in his barn.

For Kaye Brock, her past is known by all in "Take Me Out" by Lori L. Lake. Being an ex-con has its burdens as does living up to expectations of others.

Then, there is David Housewright's tale "A Domestic Matter". Jack is convinced his wife wants him dead. Reporter Dan Thorn doesn't believe his old friend at first and then follows the reporter's credo to take lots of notes as it's going to be important later.

This anthology also features stories by M.D. Lake, Mary Logue, William Kent Krueger, Judith Guest, Monica Ferris, K. J. Erickson, Ellen Hart, Deborah Woodworth, Kerri Miller, and Pat Dennis. In each of the thirteen stories, some of the clues are the same and yet each author goes in very different directions. While the stories share clues, they also share the fact that almost all of them are highly atmospheric noir style reads. Maybe it's the cold. Maybe it's the short daylight hours. But this is a dark read that should be savored in front of a roaring fireplace. Just make sure you can keep an eye on your surroundings while you are reading.

Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2006

This is a great book for all ages -- I read along with my 10 year old who did a report on this book ....terrific, funny....very true to life....

This book made me Laugh so hard I liked her first book Sahara Special but this is even better. The teacher used thhe book to help us journal and I thought it would be boring but I could not wait for her to read these funny stories out loud and then write my own stories about things like school and grandparents. This author writes about the city in a way that is FOR REAL and not boring and now I write in my journal every day because I want to be a writter. My only comnplaint is this book is not rewally about tuna fish but I dont even like tuna fish so who cares.

I enjoyed "Sing A Song of Tuna Fish" immensely, not only because of the fantastic description and detail, but also how Esme Raji Codell created an incredibly entertaining story of her childhood. I think she did a very good job of making something that in real life might not have been that entertaining, into a very good story. I think that even a 40 year old would enjoy this book!!!!

As an antidote to a wicked case of bronchitis, I've managed to read my way through a stack of books on my nightstand and found a winner: Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, Hard to Swallow Stories From Fifth Grade by Esme Raji Codell, the author of Educating Esme and other books.

It was published in 2004 but I hadn't seen it until last week on the shelf of the Atlantic County Bookmobile. What a treasure! I've been searching for good mentor texts to use with our fifth and sixth grade classes, something that would make the kids and their teachers really "get" the need to focus writing workshop around memoirs--and boy this is it! Esme takes you right into her life as a fifth grader. I think that both kids and adults will be inspired to explore their own childhood experiences after reading this book.

This book made me Laugh so hard I liked her first book Sahara Special but this is even better. The teacher used thhe book to help us journal and I thought it would be boring but I could not wait for her to read these funny stories out loud and then write my own stories about things like school and grandparents. This author writes about the city in a way that is FOR REAL and not boring and now I write in my journal every day because I want to be a writter. My only comnplaint is this book is not rewally about tuna fish but I dont even like tuna fish so who cares.

"The Skin" is a complex and fascinating book.

Ostensibly it is about the American army arriving in Italy during WWII and coming into contact (often for the first time) with Europe's spiritual and moral corruption and degradation. The idea was copied a (little) bit by Joseph Heller in Catch-22. If you've read Catch-22, you have SOME an idea about what to expect.

But "The Skin" is a deeper book than Catch-22, and Malaparte was much more interested in the differences between the decadence of the old world and the brash, conquering innocence of the New World, where things such as defeat are considered physically and morally impossible. Defeat is actually seen as morally reprehensible and somehow or other, the fault of the defeated.

Unlike Heller, Malaparte never portrays the military or the politicians as out and out bufoons: he realizes that people are invariably more complex than that.

It is a rare combination of intellectual writing, combined with moments of vibrantly dark humour. An example: when an American liason officer speaks about Italian women selling their bodies, Malaparte replies that all that they are actually selling is their hunger. And that it'd be a marvellous thing if every American soldier could take home a piece of hunger to show his wife what amazing things you can buy for money.

The title, by the way, refers to Malaparte's comment that once flags have been proven worthless and shamed, the only flag people are willing to fight for is that of their own skin. The indomitable spirit of mankind is shown to be a greedy, grasping thing that will stop at nothing in order to continue existing. And the spectacle is anything but edifying.

This is not an easy book, and it is not a book for everybody. In fact, if you believe in the manifest destiny of your country or are used to dividing people between winners and losers, save your time and do not buy this book because you would not understand it.

Malaparte's book is a series of autobiographic episodes set in WW2 Italy. It shows the despair and degradation of a place where everything, everything is for sale and the only thing that matters is your skin, saving your skin and living another day. In many respects, however, Italy becomes a metaphor for the whole of Europe (watch the movie "Berlin - year 0") in those times, and perhaps mankind. In fact, Malaparte's language is often poetic and his book transcends his times to become a universal portrait of suffering man. It is the suffering, defeated man that Malaparte takes pity of, while describing man in his hour of triumph as "unbearable".

Among all the rhetoric on the Liberation and the magnificent new future that awaited Europe after the war, here is a writer who preferred to set his eyes on a painful present. Malaparte gives us a description of a terrible time which has the same timeless value as Thucidides' account of the plague in Athens.

A particularly enjoyable part of the book is the description of the contact between the Old and the New World. Malaparte, an officer of the Italian Corps that fought alongside the Allies in the Italian campaign from 1943 onwards, was very good friend with some American officers and knew General Clark. He has left us a wonderful description of the mixed feelings of the US troops in experiencing, often for the first time, the reality of Europe, of their obscure fascination and, at the same time, contempt for "corrupt" Europe, of their genuine innocence mixed with a presumption of moral superiority. In an unforgettable dialogue, an American woman serving in the auxiliary forces contemptiously asks Malaparte how can women in Naples prostitute themselves for a packet of cigarettes, clearly they must be putting their habit ahead of their honor. Malaparte drily answers that "With a packet of cigarettes, they can buy 3 kgs of bread"...

This is an intense and vivid account of Malaparte's experiences in his native Italy during the American occupation. Set largely in Naples, it picks up where his masterpiece Kaputt left off, and nearly attains the haunting, hallucinogenic power and bitter humor of his earlier work.

'The Skin' is tainted, however, by a deep misanthropy that permeates the work, and which was perhaps latent in Kaputt but seemed more justified when directed against the Nazis and other Fascists he encountered than against his countrymen. This misanthropy is voiced explicitly on a few occasions, but most venomously expressed in his racist, homophobic, and red-baiting descriptions of black American soldiers and upper class gays, respectively. So the hopeful, humanist note on which he ended Kaputt decays sourly as he recounts his experience in the ruins of Naples following the Allied landing.

Translator David Moore doesn't attain the fluid clarity of Foligno's English rendering of Kaputt, and he irritatingly refuses to translate the French and German conversations that appear throughout the book. His rendering of Florentine street idiom in Cockney accents is a poor choice.

Overall, not the equal of Kaputt, but still a memorable book.

Malaparte's "The Skin" is more than a sardonic look at the American occupation of Italy in WWII. It's a hilarious, and very sad, look at the human condition -- how low humanity can fall and how fatalistic and depraved we can become in the face of devastation. Malaparte speaks openly about the "trade" in African-American soldiers in occupied Italy, when desperate Italian families sent their daughters looking specifically for Black America soldiers to bring home -- because they were more generous and kind, more loyal and more loving -- and because they always brought loads of G.I. food to their adoptive families. You wouldn't get away with that kind of truth now, not in America. Malaprate also gives us some of the most catastropic scenes every written about the aftermath of WWII in Italy, scenes which will embed in your memory forever and recur as nightmares. He is sardonic, yes. But that is a good thing, for war is a bloody joke on those who somehow survive. Malaparte speaks of the exhausted Italian soldiers who, during the American occupation, were told they had to "live up to the shame of Italy" and were dressed in green-dyed uniforms taken from dead British soldiers, many with bullet holes and blood stains. This is a story of an insider's story of catastrophe, loss of beliefs, ruin, bombed out homes in which one still had to live, a country's most beautiful women flung at the victors to provide food for the defeated . . . . Don't miss this book. Take it from me. The only book in American literature anything like it is "The Hogs of Cold Harbor" about the true victors in our so-called "Civil War". You're missing a fundamental exercise in horrifying, bloody, hilarious literature if you don't try Malaparte's "The Skin". He's up there with Louis Ferdinand Celine, looking down on us from their crosses.

This is one of the better written books I've ever read. In fact, I've read it three times and each time I was suprised by its superb irony, excellent dialogues and lyric style. Reading it, I used to think I was reading again Dante's Comedia, but written in 1943 and sewed to our material earth and humanity, instead to Heaven or Hell.

Now that the world is at war again, may be we should read again this book...

Gene Moser captures the essence of both Phil and El as their relationship grows through time. The conflicts between their cultures is handled sensitively and accurately so the reader is left looking forward to the next volume.

Reviewed By Shirley Johnson @2002
Amazing Authors Showcase Reviews
Author of A Divorced Mother Talks To God
I was not quite sure about Gene Moser's book, when I first began to read it.I thought the first story stopped quite abruptly and it annoyed me. That was not the case however. Gene wove each story into the following making for an interesting read.
Gene's main character, Phillip Boydon, is an Army brat. Raising my own children as Army brats, brought to remembrance many of the activities Gene recounts in his book. I enjoyed that. Phillip desperately tries to fit into a civilian world, but is often ousted by his peers, until he meets a young girl named Elaine Goodman.
Phillip and Elaine begin to taste young innocent love, and although I will not give away how far their love takes them, it definitely leads them down a path they did not want to go.  Gene ends the book leaving you wondering what will become of Phillip and Elaine.
Skinny Dipping and Other Stories is a light, easy and enjoyable read. I look forward to seeing what turn Phillip and Elaine's lives will take in Gene's second book.

Gene obviously lived through this time, and even remembers it! Not bad when you can remember details from 50 years ago. It brought back memories of those days. I had forgotten about pedal pushers. Extremely well written and a pleasure to read. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to return to the days of yester-year. A good book also for non-brat spouses who might want to get an insight into their brat half about what made them what they are.

I grew up in the 1950s and this story is true to them. Phil and Elaine are both typical of the time, if a bit bolder than some might be. Yet these stories show a moral - teenage experimentataion is dangerous. The cover implies that there will be more to come. I hope so.

Gene Moser's first book is a delight to read. It is an inside story of two young people growing up, one a maturing military brat who also was a military school brat, and a charming if innocent young lady who is reaching for adulthood and the nuances that offers. It is sensitively written through the eyes of one who has been there and one who remembers. Having been a former military school teacher myself - and a former teacher of Gene Moser - I can identify readily with his portrayal of life in a military school, with all its challenges and opportunities. Ah, the mind of such a student is rife with intrigue and energy. Gene captures it all very well.

Oh, I loved this collection. This guy's the real deal. Beautifully crafted characters rendered with lots of heart and dry, wry humor.

One of the finest collections of stories I've read in years. Whlie I admired the finely wrought point of view and the terse dialogue, what remains with me most from these stories is their sense of place, interior and exterior, whether it's a cave where two vietnam veterans encounter each other or the inside of a jail cell or a hillside with someone sledding down it.

These are character-driven stories and their quiet epiphanies and endings are compelling, but Nichols is good at opening sentences, too:

"I was stupid for a long time, I admit it."

"One fall Paul Waterman found that he could tramp the woods again. . ." (You'll have to read the story to see just how good an opening sentence that is.)

Wonderful work. I look forward to his next collection.

Mr. Nichols has produced a uniformly accomplished collection of stories here, my personal favorites among them being: "Jon-Clod," a family piece that is somehow related to the Winter Olympics; and "C'est La Vie," featuring a quarterback with a blown-out knee.

Attention all readers: Nichols is the real deal and Esquire and Zeotrope etc have known it all along.

This is a short story writer up there with the best of them. His work is classic. Sharp, tough, nuanced, delicate, heartbreaking, each story is, to me, the best of what short fiction can be.

If you care about short fiction, please, treat yourself to this book.

Be aware: you'll find no action heroes or epic conflicts in Slow Monkeys, a first collection from award-winning short story writer Jim Nichols. You won't come across any wily detectives or inscrutable medical examiners, any CIA agents or conniving society mavens. In short, you'll discover few of the suspects who inhabit the larger part of modern commercial fiction. Instead, Nichols levels his casual but penetrating scope on the less trodden world of trailer parks and migrant fruit workers, of bent marriages and blue-collar disillusion. But in this thrill-a-minute, Nike/Playstation/Tommy Hilfiger world, who wants to read about the troubles of ordinary Joes and Janes? Right?

Wrong. You want to read this book. Nichols voice comes clean and eerie as a loon call on a simple lake of autumn, thrusting even the most bored and ironic reader into that most epiphanic of environs-the real world. While this reviewer could hardly be described as a fan of relative minimalism, Nichols has a subtlety and style that can't help but win your appreciation. His language flows with assurance, firmly in the familiar but seldom stooping to dialect or the outright colloquial. His Hemingwayesque simplicity of phrase belies a deep interest in the rhythm and interaction of line and phrase. As a result of strong characterization and story, this sense of scansion is hardly noticeable on a first run-through, but upon subsequent or close examination, the lines emit a nearly poetic feel, like a concentricity of ripples on one of Nichols's Maine ponds, each expanding and accentuating the one before. This deep attention to craft is also evident in his controlled use of symbol. An ancient outboard motor, coins of ambiguous luck, dead fish, a stolen football: all these symbols could come across as contrived or labored in the hands of a less accomplished artisan but Nichols employs them with a light yet resolute touch, making the narrative resonate with aptness, substance and power.

Knowing that the most universal conflicts have little to do with political machinations or jewel heists, Nichols forces us to gaze upon the complexity of the human drama, where the simple wonder of a child keeps a lost man from the abyss; where in the shattered knee of a former high school football star we tease out the true marrow and eventuality of American dreams; where among tip-ups and ice shanties, closeted tendencies are not discussed openly but grunted at-or better yet, ignored-over a cold beer; where, everyday, families and individual souls bend, break, and are made whole again by the subtle heroism of diminished pride or lowered expectation. These commonplace heroes don't save the globe or perform superhuman feats, but they do save those around them from utter despair and ruin with tight-lipped compassion or a simple determination to persevere. Slow Monkeys is crammed with distinctly American characters, and with his perfect apprehension and appreciation of human frailty, Jim Nichols comes across as nothing less than the broad authentic voice of America.

This is a wonderful collection of thoughtful and beautiful stories - for all ages. A delight.

This is definitely not a book that should be judged by its cover. The short stories are entertaining for children and adults alike. However, what I found to be the most enjoyable was that although all of the short stories were intertwined, each had their own distinct and uplifting theme.

I am greatly impressed by Mr. Akkerman's first work of art. If only I had a child or other small relative to share these stories with. The author blends the perfect combination of daydreams and dark tales. I finished the stories knowing that there is always hope in the world, and there is no better message to convey to a child than that.

I ran accross Mr Akkerman's book whle searching for a night time reading book for my 5 year old nephew. My local book store owner showed me Somewhere Below the Great White Clouds and I was immediately curious about the short stories. At first I wasn't sure this was going to work because the stories and lessons presented are not surgar coated like so many of the books I have read to my nephew in the past. The poof would be in my nephew's reaction to Mr. Akkerman's work.

Well, I can only say that my nephew gives "Somewhere" rave reviews, he esspecially likes and asks for the story call Plastic Man to be read over and over again. What I find so appealing about this book is that a young person has to think about the messages contained within each short story and dig for the larger meaning in their lives.

My nephew and I look forward to reading more from this talented author soon.

My six-year-old daughter loves this book. The memorable characters and dramatic story lines continue to capture her attention and imagination even though we have read this book many times. It is a wonderful addition to our collection of classic children's books. It is hard to believe that this is the author's first book.

My baby loves to look at this book. The artwork is clever and the story is great for repitition. This book is a great find.

the simple words and bold pictures lead babies and toddlers on a fun trip through the four seasons. this book helps children to use their imaginations to discover their environments.

My daughter loves this book. It goes with us, everywhere. She has memorized it at 2 years old. "the storms rage" has always been something I can dramatize when reading it. Now, she has her own way of emphasizing it. LOVE IT!

My 1-year old son LOVES this book. It's been one of his favorites since he first saw it. He wants to read it over and over, which helps to pass the time on car trips. He always laughs when the cow re-appears toward the end. Not many books hold his interest as much or get him as excited as this one!

I bought this book just for it's large print and short sentences. (ez reader). despite these two 'requisites', this is not just a baby book!
If you want to introduce your child to the 'flow' of eloquent vocabulary, this book should do it!
It is NOT a dumbed-down baby book. It is much more fun for me, as a parent, to read than any other baby book that I have met so far!
I can see why the baby's (in other reviews) prefer it!!
My six year old (learning to read) loves it, too.

The first thing you need to realize is that this is a CHAPBOOK (construction paper and typing paper stapled like a magazine) not a regular paperback. Other than that, this collection of short stories [is really good]!

Fab book. I especially appreciated the oblique references to fruit indigenous only to a small island off the south coast of Wales, and the repeated use of the word "merkin". Thankyou for enriching me so, I will never forget it - Jemiah, you'll get your reward in Devon. Mwah! ttfn xox C

Combining the sublimely erotic with the ridiculousness of the heady world of celebrity, Jefferson captures the style, the glamour, the beauty, and the underlying sickness of our culture's obsession with fame and sex. Philosophically unsound, yet strangely compelling, Jefferson's writings drip with a bohemian sophistication which will make you laugh, squirm and orgasm- possibly all at the same time. Do we not like that? Yes we do!

This book is great fun, seemlessly taking you back to that magical time when we were all just a little bit younger, a little more experimental, and a little more trashy. Anyone who was a part of any kind of local punk rock/alternative scene (and/or KNOWS that Scully's fantasies couldn't possibly only include Mulder) will be able to relate to practically every word. Brilliant!

Ms. Jefferson rips new ground in the fecund field of sex and music in Portland's dark night world. Her frenetic plowing yields many fruits and flowers. You can't so much read it as feel it and smell it.

Lori Lake's writing truly does defy categoration, and this splendid collection of 14 stories, some of them lesbian themed, some of them not, perfectly illustrates that point; but if there is a common theme that runs through them, it is that of pain and loss, and coming through it better, stronger, wiser. She looks unflinchingly at some little-discussed and very difficult subjects - domestic abuse in lesbian relationships, a parent's difficulty in accepting a lesbian daughter, a father's loss of his son - and does so with great compassion and profound insight. These stories from one of today's best authors will make you think - and make you care. Victor J. Banis, author of Spine Intact, Some Creases

With Stepping Out, popular lesbian author Lori L. Lake has crafted a charming and impressive collection of short stories. The name of the book was inspired by the fact that the characters in each story have reached a turning point in their lives, and they must now choose to step out in a new direction. Each story touched me in some way, but some more than others.

"The Bright Side" tells of a young woman faced with the inevitability of aging parents. "Everything You Learn in Kindergarten Can Ruin Your Life" takes us back to grammar school and the world of bullies. "Propane" is a powerful tale of domestic abuse in a same-sex relationship. In "Mouse", we come face-to-face with a homeless woman, forced onto the street when her partner passes away and the family refuses to acknowledge their relationship.

Lake isn't afraid to tackle the tough issues-alcoholism, physical and mental abuse, self-esteem issues, aging parents, homophobia-in her stories, but she does so without ever feeling preachy or confrontational. Her stories are filled with grace, second chances, and self-discovery. All of her characters are fully-realized, even when their stories are sometimes less than ten pages. You feel as if you are being afforded brief (sometimes too brief!) glimpses into the lives of real people-people who could be your neighbors, your friends, or even your relatives. Her writing style is very accessible; the stories quickly draw you in and make you care about their protagonists.

Everyone who reads this book will have their favorites. Mine were "Busybody", "Defending Angels", and "Jumping Over My Head." In "Busybody", an aging lesbian couple tries to live their lives in peace and privacy while fending off the well-meaning but unwelcome interference of loved ones and neighbors. However, the couple gains a new perspective by the story's end. "Defending Angels" tells the emotionally charged story of a young man trying to rebuild his life in the aftermath of an abusive father and an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Of the fourteen stories in this collection, "Jumping Over My Head" felt the most personal to me. It is a story of overcoming self-perception, of the power of having one person who believes in you-and having faith in yourself.

While those three especially stood out to me, I believe this book will have something for everyone. In these fourteen short stories, Lori L. Lake, also the author of the popular Gun series, as well as her most recent novel, the well-received Different Dress, shows off her versatility and considerable talent. I highly recommend this book.

I finished "The Big Eddy" in the wee hours this morning and I sobbed. What a heart rending journey for the father in the loss of his son. I'm so impressed with the writing. Each story captures a person right from the beginning. What comes through so clearly to me is the love and understanding that is needed between all of us.....and how premature judgments are haunting at any point in our lives. The "Bright Side" really examined family relationships and the ending was tender between the two sisters. And, "Busybody" truly made me stop and think about importance of not prejudging where someone's coming from....and then realizing the importance of sharing one's life with others. "Propane" hit home too because of the abusive marriage my sister was in years ago. At least the character had the guts to finally deal with it. All of these stories have left openings for future writings.

I'm keeping the book by my bedside.....it's so great when I wake up at 4:00 a.m. and can't get to sleep. I pick up the book and read as much as I like before I get ready to sleep again. I hope this author keeps those beautiful, meaningful messages coming to all of us. It is needed.

Ms. Lake definitely continues the tremendous style of writing displayed in her earlier books: Gun Shy, Under the Gun, Different Dress and Ricochet In Time.

Stepping Out: Short Stories takes the reader on a terrific journey through a gambit of emotions with each of the stories: sympathy, dismay, shock, anger, fright, empathy, anger, loss, laughter, and love. Although Jumping Over My Head and Vagabond are my personal favorites, each story will move you in its own unique way. While each story may not be long in length, there are 14 stories total, each is quite impactful. You will feel like you are right there with each of the characters, sharing their feelings - whether crying with them or laughing with them - helping them fight their way through their trials and troubles.

Already a fan of Ms. Lake's work, Stepping Out: Short Stories just reinforces the reasons why. It is a great book and will be one picked up and read time and time again!

Lori L. Lake has written an insightful collection of short stories in her latest book, "Stepping Out: Short Stories". If you are not familiar with her other best-selling books, "Different Dress", "Under the Gun", "Gun Shy", and "Ricochet In Time", "Stepping Out," will have certainly whet your appetite.

Each story brings forth interesting characters and situations you long to know more about. Lori Lake can easily have fourteen more novels to write and the reader is left hoping that is her intention.

It is much more difficult to write a short story than a novel because the writer has limited time and space to expand upon the characters and story line. There is little time to develop the plot - it has to be there and be there quick. Lori Lake does an excellent job with this task.

Each of the short stories is timeless and authentic in its portrayal of real people and their lives. I appreciate how Lake mentions the feelings of elderly parents about having their independence interfered with, even from well meaning children, as in, "The Bright Side". This is a point that hits home for any baby boomer currently worrying about who will take care of their aging parents. And more importantly, how will they get their parents to accept their help? In this story we also see a mother who is so critical of her daughter she compliments her on her weight loss even though it is due to chemotherapy for breast cancer! This is in addition to her disappointment that her daughter is gay and throwing it in her daughter's face even during a family crisis. Anyone who has a critical mother and most of us do in one way or another can relate to this story. This is not to say that we don't love our mothers, but our mothers' unfavorable comments can hurt the worst.

"Afraid of the Dark", is about a mother and daughter who get lost while driving to an American Quilt Exhibit and end up stuck in a bad neighborhood. The author so perfectly shows the ignorance and potentially dangerous side of prejudice. It is a sad story about a mother who can't get past her prejudices enough to love or trust people who are different from her. The daughter, Marin, allows herself to be set up for the verbal abuse her mother consistently dishes out while secretly hoping her mother will change and accept her for who she is and accept people for who they are and not based on race, religion, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately, this is not a new story with racial profiling and homophobia ridiculously ingrained in our society so that even many parents have trouble accepting their own children. Like Marin, we hope this will change in our lifetime.

I also enjoyed, "Busybody" because it is so true that you cannot judge a book by its cover. What we perceive in a person may not be what is really there. In fact you may be pleasantly surprised with what you find if you open up your heart.

Each story brings forth a wisdom that we all should possess as we go through life. Lake reminds us of society's short-sightedness to allow discrimination of overweight or obese people while glorifying anorexic models and actresses and paying them millions. It is no wonder that most girls have distorted body images and that eating disorders are prevalent.
"My Lifesaving Journal" is about a girl who dreams of being a hero because she has a low opinion of herself. She is fat and feels unworthy of love - even life. Isn't it about time society learns that a person's size is not what matters; it is what is inside that counts? It is about time we moved away from being so beauty and weight conscious and concentrate on being happy and healthy by exercising, eating right, and feeling good about ourselves.

The father who writes to his daughter in "A Letter from Father", pleading forgiveness for any homophobia he may have possessed in the past while hoping to regain her presence in his life, is heartwarming. These are just a few examples of what you may find in this book. Something positive can be said about each story but I prefer you read it for yourself and come to your own conclusions and choose the ones that hold the most meaning for you. Each reader will find something that they can relate to or learn from in this fine collection of short stories. I highly recommend this book and will add it to my collection of favorite authors.

True to the topic, it transports you right there. Historical and old, but still current.

I thought this book was one of the best books Ive ever read it describes how people feel and view the world from inside themselves but can never express this externally or even realise they are thinking these things themselves.

For me It depicts how inadequate we all are men and women, when it comes to Love, and expressing it and sharing it. it flumoxes us all, Its too big for us, "the chickens had more sense"....pass the worms please.

Written about a South African farm. this book depicts the story of a family and how they interact throughout the book. The most striking dynamic in the book is the relationships of the women in it. It portrays female existence in a realistic light even for today. The story has a lot of character to it, and I would recommend it highly for teachers who want to teach about feminism.

Although I had to read this book for a college class, I would read it again in a second, I feel that I can only gain more and more from this book through rereadings. Its plot is at times disjointed to the style of the author and the message she is attempting to convey, so for those who are looking for a strongly Dickensian or "feel good" read, this is most likely not the book for you right now. But for me, from an analytical and heartfelt standpoint, the subtlety of the book and its beauty and its truth made me tear up a little bit. I'm currently writing a paper on Waldo and his artistic and personal growth throughout the novel, so maybe I'm a little biased, but although Lyndall is an incredibly interesting and advanced character, I think Waldo is often glossed over as merely suffering from a religious crisis of faith, and, being a man, not deserving of attention in this novel of the "New Woman". But Waldo ultimately reaches a place of amazing peace and understanding, and the lives of Waldo and Lyndall intertwined together is truly beautiful.

"Story of an African Farm" is a difficult work to describe. It must be read several times, and carefully pondered before all of its secrets are unlocked.

Ostensibly, the book revolves around the lives of three children (and, later, adults) who live in the Karroo plains of South Africa. The main focus, however, is on two of the characters - Waldo, the earnest and deeply curious son of the German farmkeeper, and Lyndall, the beautiful, outspoken and rebellious orphan who suffers all her life for her ideals.

The book itself is semi-autobiographical. Waldo represents Schreiner's journey from fanatical, childlike faith to bitter skepticism, who reaches a watershed of sorts when he hisses to Lyndall 'There is no God - none!'. Lyndall, on the other hand, embodies Schreiner's frustation with her station as a woman - barred from the upper echelons of society, and her inability to find a mate who is both her intellectual match and willing to accept her as an equal. "I want to love", she whispers to the grave of Waldo's father, "I want something great and pure to lift me to itself."

There are many other themes that flesh out the subtext of this extraordinary book - the tragedy of solitude, that ultimately, all humans are alone in the cosmos. "Dear eyes", the dying Lyndall whispers to her mirror, "they will never part us."

Readers who expect a narrative will be dissapointed. What narrative there is serves only to undersore the book's many themes. Often, the flow of the story is out of sequence, or devoid of context, and deliberately so. Roughly, the book is divided into three sections - the first introduces us to the characters as children, and reveals their innermost thoughts. The second, and shortest section is entitled "Times and Seasons". It is somewhat of a summary of what has gone before, dealing mostly with Waldo's journey from Christian fanaticism to dispairing atheism, and foreshadows some of what is to come. The third, and longest section, covers the lives of the characters as adults, and is by far the most powerful, and moving piece of the book.

The reader who is looking for mindless action is advised to pick up the latest Tom Clancy novel, or whatever passes for literature these days. Those who are willing to put aside all preconceived notions, and have their cherished beliefs challenged are invited to read this book. The search for truth is endless. But this book is a perfect place to begin.