I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the author
Four American Tales
by
Jack Messenger
fiction in a Kindle edition that was published by Greyhound Press on March 31, 2016 and has 53 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
A collection of four short (short!) fictional stories about events in four separate tales of American lives.
This eBook was sent to me by the author for an honest review. And if it sounds good to you, go get it over at Amazon right now [11 Feb 2018], as it’s free.
The Stories
”Wichega” is a sweet sad tale of a young girl’s perspective of life when her daddy comes back into their lives with his “new” yellow Oldsmobile. And I surely did enjoy Messenger’s use of dialect to give “Wichega” flavor.
”A Hundred Ways to Live” just had to have a bad ending, but that Messenger was dang sneaky! Leading me on with this tale of treasure and robbers and the woman who waited. Leading me on to thinking dire thoughts, so the real ending was a surprise and an unexpected hope.
”Ballbusters on Parade” was really odd. I mean, how many guys do you know who would be proud of their extremely small penis? It’s an unexpected variation — and a crack-up — from the usual American success story, lol, while Messenger pokes fun at the porn industry.
”Uncle Mort” was uncomfortable with Helen’s sudden blow-up. I never understood it, and I wish Messenger had given me more than these bits. It wasn’t helped by the very subtle implications about Uncle Mort and Helen’s mother and yet more tidbits that Helen recalls of her past. Still, Messenger did raise up my emotions with a good show.
The Cover and Title
The cover is nicely done with a close-up of the waving stripes of an American flag that fades into a royal blue sky of clouds. Front and slightly to the right of center is the iconic tower of cement block with “Greyhound Bus” in blue and the racing greyhound at the top. The title and author’s name are in white and justified left, but the title is in an Art Deco-style font at the top while the author’s name is in a simpler font at the bottom.
The title let’s you know there are Four American Tales, short stories, you know.
