Folk Opera Fall – V4N2

Posted on by shipwrecktbooks

Your Safety is Our Number One Priority

A fabulous anthology of poetry, short fiction and essays, opinion, photography and graphic arts

Featuring
Gun oil, hot metal and justice, 9 poems by Nicole Borg
Judy Garland’s Mother, short story by Konnie Ellis
As a man 2 short essays by John Torgrimson.
I know what’s coming, 4 poems by Andy Roberts
Solve for x, photography by Nathan Wagoner

Fiction and essays
Mr. Maryport Lee Henschel Jr.
Sold Jim Joe Ducato
The remarkable cat Daniel Moeller
Why? John Weiss
Mary Louise Kate Halverson
Sin and X C.J. Pickens
Rougher prose Carole Stoa Senn

Poetry
Try to stay alive David L. James
People lived here once Bart Sutter
Sisters paired Connie Sanderson
Paired sisters Nancy Kay Peterson
A wise fool’s song Robert Wooten
Another and better dream J. Niko Le
Rapier pen Mark Gaffney

Moral hazard Opinion by Tom Driscoll

Glass Eater

Posted on by shipwrecktbooks

Dan Coffey

Playwright, director and actor, Dan Coffey known for his work with Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater and portraying memorable characters like Dr. Science. Dan lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

 

Glass Eater is a wild, satiric hybrid, a book Hunter S. Thompson and Kurt Vonnegut might have collaborated on—set design by Graham Greene and Paul Theroux, special effects by Malcom Lowry.

Move over, Kurt Vonnegut! Dan Coffey’s wicked humor strikes again! The Glass Eater is about a burned-out con man knocking around the third world with some CIA types on his tail. Reduced to betting he can eat ashtrays for a living, our heart goes out to him when his Russian wife runs off with Dick Cheney. We discover Dick Nixon still lives—sort of—in a lab north of San Diego. Of course he’s still in touch with Henry Kissinger. And of course Condi Rice and Hillary have become pals in Coffey-world. In the end the Glass Eater uses his talents to save the world—maybe. Or will the world be saved by a man who builds glass towers? And whose side is Jesus on, anyway? You’ll find out reading The Glass Eater—sort of. —Terence A. Harkin, author of The Big Buddha Bicycle Race

Rumor has it that Dick Cheney has read the book and said:  Don’t buy this book.  And if you do, don’t read it!

Rejoyce says: The preeminent strength of Dan Coffey’s Glass Eater is voice. The main narrative is told in the baffled, idiomatic voice of the eponymous character who stumbles through Candide-like adventures, while plying his sideshow act to foot the bills. He is one of the MFA boat people, an economic refugee living outside the belly of the beast. Coffey, a graduate of the esteemed Iowa Writers Workshop, has a firm command of voice and much of this too-short, picaresque book is hilarious. Interspersed with the main story are secret memos by a cryogenically frozen Nixon, Bush Jr. and, you guessed it, The Donald. These are merely polemical. I wish the author had explored the deeper implications of the title, how it eats at the gut, how the price of the ticket may be too high. A short, fast, entertaining read, but might have been a minor classic.
Michael Morical: A Joyful Ride through Expat-dom. This book paints a hilarious portrait of a low-to-no-budget expat who eats glass for a living. Along the way, Coffey ties in bits by Richard Nixon (in an introduction written by Tricky Dick after his alleged death), Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger and other high-flying government flunkies. As funny as it is, Coffey makes serious points, so serious that Dick Cheney warns, in a blurb for the novel, “Don’t buy this book. If you do, don’t read it!” The author looks at expats who are scraping the bottom of the barrel, attracting as much attention to themselves as they can. The characters are rich. Through it all, Coffey maintains a uniquely entertaining perspective of life and politics. This is a joy to read and leaves me wanting more, a quality that I appreciate in a novel of any length. It is the perfect tonic for the times in which we live–laughter in the new dark age. Besides, you can learn how to eat glass, a valuable skill for digital nomads, expats or anyone who seeks to learn a trade in the world of brick and mortar.
From B.Leary: Move over, Kurt Vonnegut! Dan Coffey’s wicked humor strikes again! The Glass Eater is about a burned-out con man knocking around the third world with some CIA types on his tail. Reduced to betting he can eat ashtrays for a living, our heart goes out to him when his Russian wife runs off with Dick Cheney. We find out Nixon still lives—sort of—in a lab north of San Diego. Of course he’s still in touch with Henry Kissinger. And of course Condi Rice and Hillary have become pals in Coffey-world. In the end the Glass Eater uses his talents to save the world—maybe. Or will the world be saved by a man who builds glass towers? And whose side is Jesus on, anyway? You’ll find out reading The Glass Eater—sort of.

 

 
 
 

Green Blade 2016 Edition

Posted on by shipwrecktbooks

The annual literary magazine of the Rural America Writers Center, Plainview, Minnesota, published through a special partnership with Shipwreckt Books.

 

Green Blade 2016 Contributors:
Peter Allen
Jill Krase
Justin Watkins
Jennifer Jesseph
Tom Driscoll
CJ Jacobson
Nancy Hengeveld
Steven Vogel
Craig Falkum
Elliott Foster
Carolyn Bizien
Susan McMillan
Nicole Borg
Nicholas Ozment
Marcia Savela
Kit Rohrbach
Kim Zabel
Dan Butterfass
Scott Lowery
Tim J Brennan
Betty Benner
Larry Gavin
Ken McCullough
Elizabeth Oness
Cecilia Dingledy
Melissa McNallan
Emilio DeGrazia
Donna Halvorson
Benj Mahle
Peg Bauernfeind
Gloria Smit

Lost Lake Folk Opera – V3N2

Posted on by shipwrecktbooks

Special Winter Sun Issue

Featuring the Rural Economic Development Roundtable

held in Plainview, Minnesota, on December 1, 2015.

With Rochester and Mayo Clinic’s Destination Medical Center promising to alter the dynamics of small communities throughout southeast Minnesota, four individuals active in growing sustainable rural economies weigh-in on a wide range of issues.

Dean Harrington, Sheila Kiscaden, Gary Smith and John Torgrimson drill deep into the many issues affecting sustainable rural economic development. 

Contributors: Sheila Kiscaden. John Torgrimson. Gary Smith. Dean Harrington. Dan Munson. Roger C. Morris. Judi Bergen. Merle Hanson. Larry Johnson. John MacLean. Arnetta L. Lane. Andy Roberts. Sean Lause. Mark Metzler. Ron Hardy. Molly McDonald. Tom Farrell. Tom Driscoll.

Eye Shadow – Personal Essays

Posted on by shipwrecktbooks

Emilio DeGrazia

   Emilio DeGrazia is one of those writers who loves the ambience of a writers’ gathering––the fraternity, the probing of ideas––whether the subject is poetry or the jock strap empire of sports. What I can tell you is that not many people I’ve read, whether in Minnesota or beyond, write of the human condition with the same mixture of discovery, forgiveness and judgment that Emilio brings from his study. Years ago a small group of us, at the prodding of the toastmaster, were asked to identify three or four people who would be our choice if we were marooned on a desert highland and had to spend foreseeable months or years listening to each other. My first choice was Emilio. I never tire of hearing what this man has to say about the humanity around him. —Jim Klobuchar, Author and retired columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Amazon Reviews—

Avid Reader writes: Ramblings. This short story collection is loosely grouped in eight categories: American Dreams, True Stories, Human Nature, College Education. Embracing Technology, Military Intelligence, Jock Strappings, and Moral Compass. Each category contains a definition and several stories regarding one aspect of the definition. Like any collection, some readers will like some stories more than others will. One unexpected delight is the artwork provided for one of the stories.