Melinda Pressler

A spectacular collection of sci-fi short fiction that covers. Clever & thought provoking stories encompassing theology, sociology, physiology, archeology, humanities and eons of possibilities. Captures the reader's imagination & stimulates metacognition. Gives us cause to marvel at human evolution. He cracks open our craniums to ponder the origins of thought and consider the omnipotence & onus of human decision making. We're made mindful of the miracle of free will and clarity of thought. The clever writing leaves us with conflicting views allowing us to derive our own judgements. The sci-fi intrigue of time traveling is broached in intriguing ways with emphasis on the possibility of changing our past and thus our future. The cryptic consideration of the past and the future being the same or malleable are profound. Serious & humorous considerations are given with the ability for technology to enable us to revisit our pasts. Artificial intelligence (AI) is another anomaly the collection contemplates philosophically. EXHALATION also examines the incredulous developments of man's abilities to read, write and process thought. EXHALATION is a no brainer - it's a masterpiece of creative genius.

The novel had the materials to construct an intriguing novel: an interesting epoch, maverick young women and a lovely setting nestled in the New England countryside. However, the novel crumbles with torrid adulterous affairs taken off the pages of Harlequin romances. There are red herring references to Hitchcock's haunting film THE BIRDS. And, even more egregious is the lecherous examinations Samuel permits Dr Hawkens to perform on these young girls; not unlike Larry Nassar & the USA gymnastic team. The ILLNESS LESSON is ill advised to perpetuate the myth that vibrators or clitoral stimulation were accepted treatments for females during the late 18th & early 19th C. Furthermore, mistreatment of the women is made more heinous with the submissiveness of adult witnesses for whom their care was entrusted. What's missing is the formidable ability to question and for the adults to sensibly listen to the girls. "The girls had adapted quickly to their new right to speak, think, question-as if all of it had been ready inside them and waiting only for someone to ask to hear."

Based on the lives Rami, an Israeli and Bassam a Palestinian born as sworn mortal enemies. Their unlikely friendship grew from a shared grief for their young daughters, both casualties of war. Rami asks "What could cause someone to be that angry, that mad, that desperate, that hopeless, that stupid, that pathetic, that he is willing to blow himself up alongside a girl, not even 14 years old?" Together, Rami & Bassam wield their pain as a weapon to diffuse conflict. Language is the sharpest weapon. Sadly, words alone do not suffice. It's disastrous to discover the humanity of your enemy, his nobility, because then he isn't your enemy anymore Don't disavow the possibility of living alongside each. Allow the opportunities to get along. Violence is weak hatred is weak. The first, easiest and worst response is revenge. Tolerance, inclusivity, moderation to end the endless cycle of sorrow takes courage. There's much to admire, learn and mull over in this narrative of sorrow, history, justice & artistry. Anything is possible, even the seemingly impossible. To shift just one mind would never be enough, but it's worth it anyway. APEIROGON should receive the Pulitizer and Nobel Prize for literature.

The novel has an enticing framework that pulls you in Although, once inside its is a hallow shell that leaves the reader unmoored & unmoved. Danny & Maeve Conroy are extremely close siblings. Maeve is the older, saintly and stalwart big sister. They grow-up for the most part in a Gatsby like mansion in Philadelphia with a lots of glitz, shimmering glass and sparkle. Their childhoods are shattered when their mother abandons them & their father dies The new step-mom is the wicked step-mother from Cinderella. Andrea moves in with her 2 daughters and quickly sends Danny & Maeve packing The years draw on Maeve's life seems frozen. Danny completes med school, marries, has a family. Danny & Maeve are continually drawn back to the Dutch House where they ponder how their lives have unfolded. This is an adult fairytale that double downs on Hansel & Gretel, Cinderella and A Little Princess. The novel constructs a facade of interest based on the strong foundation between siblings. But after completion, the magic disappears like smoke.

A memoir of Broom's life before, during and after the deadly Katrina Hurricane which displayed millions of New Orleanians. The yellow house is the family home which tethers Broom's story and the only thing left. A historic odyssey of indigenous residents & her relatives flooded into diaspora. Broom writes as an anthropologist and excavator of what remains. Outside the house, the families' histories & biographies are awash in details that dilute interest. Like Humpty Dumpty, the house couldn't be put back together again nor could the lives of so many residents A beacon is cast on ongoing corruption, a failing criminal justice and health system, poverty, education and lack of economic possibilities that create for the average local the life-and-death nature of life lived in the city. ..where many children graduate from school without knowing how to spell where neglected communities exist everywhere, sometimes a stone's throw from overabundance." What's great and praised about New Orleans comes at the expense of its native black people, underemployed, underpaid and buried beneath the mystique of a magical city that keeps hidden the city's dysfunction and hopelessness. The auto-biographic deluge suppresses the story of New Orleanians, which is to say the swamping of the city's lower rung population.