Böcker av Bill Wheatley

What begins as a reminiscence viewed from the whimsical vantage of a pyramid in space soon veers off in many directions. The apparent incoherence of the collage of scenes reflects what events have been like since at least the mid-twentieth century. Because of science and the power we've seized or conjured from nature, life on earth has changed wildly in just fourscore and ten years, barely one biblical age from 1945 when the detonation of two atomic bombs ended World War Two.Despite the pervasive reverberation of so many changes, prosy life goes on and the view looking back at the hot blue dot from a tetrahedron lofted into space on a whim can't really be serious, any more than the founding quantum physicists who said a hundred years ago it didn't matter if they couldn't understand the behavior of "e;quanta"e; at the heart of their theory because even if it was the very stuff, the essence, of being, it was not really "e;real."e; No? Then what is it? Does anyone know? If this collage is heading anywhere, it is in the direction of answering that question. Or another quite like it.

"Overcast" is a collection of verse written about a middle class family in a 20th century industrial American city. Many of the pieces are narrative, centered on the life of the author's sister whose cloistered life was turned upside down by immersion in Japanese culture. Other pieces are inspired by subjects political and personal, abstract and concrete. The tone is wry and irreverent with a kind of linguistic swagger. They are accessible, even fun to read, and are intended for the intelligent, thoughtful reader. Some are also emotional, regarding the puzzle of life, the certainty of loss, and the depth of feeling created by transience.

A Man Without a Story is about a man whose life is mysteriously crippled, despite his athletic and intellectual gifts. His long search for a purpose and a woman to love leads finally to a near-miracle, a surprising revelation, and sublimely unresolved denouement.