Books Without Limits

After months of being so busy in my writing career that I have not had time to read books, much less post to my sorely neglected writing and book blogs, I am pleased to start up again with E. Christopher Clarke‘s collection of short stories “Those Little Bastads”. This book is currently ending its first limited printing, and signed copies are still available over on Chris’s site. I’d get them while you can, folks. I predict much writing success for this hidden talent from New Hampshire, the state that brought you Dan Brown, John Irving and other contemporary greats.

After a long drought of reading, this book was what brought me out of my “all work and no play” funk. From the first story, I was hooked, and ended up setting aside a sunny afternoon recently to read them all in one fell swoop. I had decided to jump around a bit, thinking I would skim a few stories and put the book down, so I simply opened the book and chose a story at random. The first one I picked drew me right in to the rest.

“Hacker” was my first foray into the collection. Being a computer geek and social media maven who spends her days writing about technology and the social web and helping companies navigate the marketing aspect of it all, I immediately felt like I knew the character on a personal level. This is the stereotypical basement dwelling hacker, sure, but with a twist. It particularly resonated with me as being like one person I know and the thought of him having the special talents (if you can call it that) of Ben, the story’s main character made me cringe. I immediately loved the way Chris was able to draw you into a regular story then give that little twist of the knife to make it just a bit off kilter. Perfect.

The strongest stories in the book seem to be concentrated in the middle, bracketed front and back by a cast of supporting stories. One of the more intriguing was “Sam”. At only a page in length it reminded me of Hemmingway and his six word novel concept. It told a complete story in less than time that it takes to sip my coffee. The stories take an irreverent and twisted look at everything from the absurdity of campus politics and college level creative writing to murder and mayhem. Covering every type of character from elderly ladies to the very young, the working class and the average Joe, there is something here for everyone.

If you’ve ever wondered what the quiet guy in the corner was really thinking, this book might be your answer. The stories are simple, almost like day dreams, if your day dreams tended to go horribly, horribly awry. It is the simplicity that makes them a solid book and worth a look, and it is the continuing element of surprise that will have you reading them all. I am frankly excited to read Chris’s first novel after reading this – I can’t wait to see how the way he writes translates from short form to long. You can pick up your copy here and you can read more of Chris’s work on his other web site, Geek Force Five.

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