Michael Andreoni examines the working-class life in this collection of sixteen short stories. Written with grit and touches of humor, these thought-provoking stories offer an insight into the flawed and intriguing humanness within us all.
The Window Is a Mirror: A maintenance man is offered his own TV reality show and discovers it's not what he imagined.
Highlighted stories in the collection include:
Edwin Floating: Edwin and his sister confront the dark history that led to their divorces.
Drambuie Tam: When a diminutive female miner comes down the mountain looking for more than a drink, the town of Argent Springs will never be the same.
Julian's Crunchy Apotheosis: An ambitious advertising executive is transformed into a dark god who can sell anything to anyone.
Moving Day: A small-town criminal is obsessed with getting out of a too-small town.
Fifteen Tops: A genius software developer is convinced the country would run better if everyone listened to him.
Other stories included in the collection:
Stump, The Window Is a Mirror, Edwin Floating, Drambuie Tam, Julian's Crunchy Apotheosis, Pastoral, Possum Haw, Moving Day, Brown Black No Ink, The Devil-Ape of Goma, Consolidated Freight, Fifteen Tops, Soft Power, The Symmetry of Children, Tea Party, and The Approach to the Bridge.
About the Author :
For nearly ten years Michael Andreoni lived as an itinerant farm laborer throughout Michigan. At times residing in barns, he nevertheless dreamt of a larger destiny, and behold! He became a janitorial contractor. Twenty years later he began writing. No one knows why. Instructed to write what you know, he found that tricky indeed when you're a janitorial contractor. Better, he thought, to write something up-market, with highly educated characters habitually sore from working out with their personal trainers. He is convinced he will someday accomplish such a story. Until then he writes the life he knows.
Review :
"With humor, grace, and lightning-quick prose, Andreoni tells the stories of loan-sharks, angel-headed bakers, and panther-riding gunslingers. A dark and beautiful collection of 21st century ballads." -- Alexander Weinstein, Award-winning author of Children of the New World
"Gritty, unflinching, powerful, daring, deft. These words come to mind when reading Andreoni's startling and clever collection of stories. He gives us razor sharp insights into flawed and intriguing human beings who struggle to survive, deal with the truth (or not), and wrestle with stuck-ness and futility. Each story becomes a window mirroring back to us the different shades of light and darkness, and some have a touch of magical realism. But the surprises keep coming." -- Zilka Joseph, Author of Sharp Blue Search of Flame, What Dread, and Lands I Live In
"As the title promises, Michael Andreoni's THE WINDOW IS A MIRROR reflects a world of hard jobs, tough luck and tougher grit right back at the reader. Each of these beautiful, psychologically astute stories follows characters whose triumphs and tragedies lay bare the symbiotic relationship between disillusionment and idealism. Andreoni's stories explore the ample spaces and graces between our worst impulses and our best intentions." -- Laura Hulthen Thomas, author of States of Motion
