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stuff4bd's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
4.0
Read before author event. A nice story with a bit of mystery and a lot of reflection about how well we really know anyone.
fictionophile's review
4.0
Don Kurtwood, a university literature professor goes home to attend his father's funeral. Father and son were never close. A love of books was their only common interest and even that was sketchy as Don loved the classics - real literature - and his Dad favoured pulp fiction, especially paperback westerns.
At the funeral reception Don is approached by a rotund little man who wants Don to visit his store later that same evening. He gives Don his card.
After a trying day, Don does go to the man's bookstore - only to find him dead. He reports the death to the police and finds out that Lou Caledonia wasn't interested in purchasing Don father's old book collection. Instead, he was interested in buying the book Don's father wrote!
This is a revelation Don didn't expect. Even his mother had no idea that her late husband had penned a novel under the pseudonym Herbert Henry...
Don goes in search of the elusive book. He believes that if he reads it he might understand his father better.
MY THOUGHTS
At only 53 pages, this short story was a very enjoyable read. The short length didn't deter the author from excellent characterization.
The point that the story exemplifies is that we, as adults, often do not 'know' our own parents on a personal level. It is often only after our parents have passed away that we realize that our parents were vibrant and young at one time. People with dreams and hobbies, loves and insecurities.
This short story will be enjoyed by bibliophiles and short story lovers alike. But then that comes as no surprise... the author is David Bell.
At the funeral reception Don is approached by a rotund little man who wants Don to visit his store later that same evening. He gives Don his card.
After a trying day, Don does go to the man's bookstore - only to find him dead. He reports the death to the police and finds out that Lou Caledonia wasn't interested in purchasing Don father's old book collection. Instead, he was interested in buying the book Don's father wrote!
This is a revelation Don didn't expect. Even his mother had no idea that her late husband had penned a novel under the pseudonym Herbert Henry...
Don goes in search of the elusive book. He believes that if he reads it he might understand his father better.
MY THOUGHTS
At only 53 pages, this short story was a very enjoyable read. The short length didn't deter the author from excellent characterization.
The point that the story exemplifies is that we, as adults, often do not 'know' our own parents on a personal level. It is often only after our parents have passed away that we realize that our parents were vibrant and young at one time. People with dreams and hobbies, loves and insecurities.
This short story will be enjoyed by bibliophiles and short story lovers alike. But then that comes as no surprise... the author is David Bell.
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