This is a powerful recount of significant events experienced in ‘Small Town USA’ by our main character as he grows from childhood to midlife tethered by a thin elastic of ambiguity, and an absence of expectation and direction. This tale is heavily flavoured by the myriad of colourful characters who grace its pages; all who seem inclined to have a wealth of sleazy experiences of their own and string of suspect tales waiting to be told.

These characters have a truly a life-like quality, and this pared with exciting events, a strategically organised story line, and sordid frankness leaves me wondering just how much of this story is based on true events.

At just five chapters there is no excess, no wastage, and no padding. The author makes every word count and the effect is a sharp crisp taste of life as it unfolds for our protagonist. The harried pace lends to a sharp focused progression that splashes bucketfuls of vivid images in your mind rather than delicately shading them in place with a water coloured alternative.

I liked the author’s concise style of writing and expect a lot of brutal editing has been done here to keep the edge of this story finely honed. Over all the story works very well, but I think it suffers from a slight underdevelopment that doesn’t quite satiate my literary appetite. Conversely, at the conclusion I experienced an unsettling sensation at the insignificance of my own short life as I examined the influence that events of my past had on my development – something which may not have been accomplished with a longer story. One other thing which was a trifle chafing was the limited insight on the effect all these experiences had on our protagonist. The book is largely a recount of his incidents that occur and though there are fleeting glimpses inside the workings of his mind there is never a true taste of flavour of his character and its development. This left me marginally detached, and I never got that ‘feeling of synchronous empathy’ that is sometimes established with a character as the story progresses. I rather felt cheated out of this sensation by this story which is a bit of a shame as I feel it would have added an extra dimension, and even more so because I felt it was always just at my fingertips.

The oratory is richly flavoured with inflection and intonation, and delivered with a husky sandstone tone that etches the story very nicely in audio format. The sound quality is very good, I could hardly fault the recording levels, the clarity or production; something so often overlooked or robbed of significance in other podiobooks.

I really liked this one and would love to see more from this author.

Corrected yesterday and made the post so no one would be wondering if more episodes were coming.

Thanks for listening and commenting. Sorry, there are no print copies. I don’t have a publisher. They can listen to the book here at Podiobooks if that’s their cup of tea. New York, huh? NYC? I lived in NYC at 67 Sullivan Street, Little Italy, near St. Anthony’s Cathedral.

Thanks for listening. And thanks for your comments. “Visionary delights,” you say. You’re too kind. But I like it!

Best wishes!

Thanks very much for your generous and insightful comments! I appreciate your interest. I see from your spelling (colourful) that you’re from the UK. It’s exciting to realize that my words have flown across the Pond (if that’s in fact where you are, presently). Words have wings, as they say.

Best regards!