EAGLES & CANARIES
SHORT STORIES AND SKETCHES
Eagles and Canaries is a collection of outrageously funny and (at times) insightful stories about life in the Midwestern United States during Women's Liberation, AIDS, and POT. In the title story, the men at the Professor's Table in Harlow's Pub are convinced that all women fall into one of two categories, those who are out for a wild time at the man's expense and those who are looking for a husband first and a good time second. This takes place at a time when the college campuses across the country are being overrun by 'retreads', young women who have taken advantage of a 'free ride' granted by the Democratic Congress. They are supposed to be attending classes that will train them to do something besides have babies.
These twenty-five stories, set in the Ozarks Mountains (hills), which is part of a much larger 'Bible Belt' that includes most of the Midwest and the South, range all the way from science-fiction spoofs ('Voyage to Lugdugdrub' and 'Justin's Farm') to a William Faulkner spoof ('Life Is a Little Windy'). It is a variety that includes a philosophical discussion about the two kinds of women, a wild party at midnight in the Oxford, Mississippi, graveyard (at Faulkner's grave), and a true story about a man who could actually 'hear' tomorrow. There are insightful sketches about character types: white trash rednecks, trailerhouse girls, ex-hippies, pot-smoking astrologers, and maverick professors. At the Professor's Table are Halitosis the Guru, Jeremy the Lion-Hearted (who swears that his name is 'Richard'), John the Unbaptized (an artist who specializes in women's breasts), Cherry Pitt (who claims she has four sisters, all of whom were named after fruit). The Professor has been 'given' a round table at Harlow's Pub, and over a period of time he has collected a number of latter-day Knights that he calls 'derelicts', who are, in fact, unemployed dropouts from Hammond State University.
SHORT STORIES AND SKETCHES
Eagles and Canaries is a collection of outrageously funny and (at times) insightful stories about life in the Midwestern United States during Women's Liberation, AIDS, and POT. In the title story, the men at the Professor's Table in Harlow's Pub are convinced that all women fall into one of two categories, those who are out for a wild time at the man's expense and those who are looking for a husband first and a good time second. This takes place at a time when the college campuses across the country are being overrun by 'retreads', young women who have taken advantage of a 'free ride' granted by the Democratic Congress. They are supposed to be attending classes that will train them to do something besides have babies.
These twenty-five stories, set in the Ozarks Mountains (hills), which is part of a much larger 'Bible Belt' that includes most of the Midwest and the South, range all the way from science-fiction spoofs ('Voyage to Lugdugdrub' and 'Justin's Farm') to a William Faulkner spoof ('Life Is a Little Windy'). It is a variety that includes a philosophical discussion about the two kinds of women, a wild party at midnight in the Oxford, Mississippi, graveyard (at Faulkner's grave), and a true story about a man who could actually 'hear' tomorrow. There are insightful sketches about character types: white trash rednecks, trailerhouse girls, ex-hippies, pot-smoking astrologers, and maverick professors. At the Professor's Table are Halitosis the Guru, Jeremy the Lion-Hearted (who swears that his name is 'Richard'), John the Unbaptized (an artist who specializes in women's breasts), Cherry Pitt (who claims she has four sisters, all of whom were named after fruit). The Professor has been 'given' a round table at Harlow's Pub, and over a period of time he has collected a number of latter-day Knights that he calls 'derelicts', who are, in fact, unemployed dropouts from Hammond State University.
This miscellany has the distinction of being selected as a graduate language project by a French professor in Belgium. It was published in paperback, hardback, and as an e-book in 2002. The paperback and hardback versions are 6X9's priced at $16.95 and $26.95, respectively. ISBN: 0-595-65419-3 (hardback), ISBN: 0-595-25902-2 (softback). Call Amazon.com for overnight shipping.
Some reviewers have said that this is funnier than the Chinese version of The Canterbury Tales.
