Böcker av Christopher Dow

Poems from the award-winning editor of Phosphene and Dialog magazines. Whether exposing the manifestations and stultifying consequences of conformity or attempting to penetrate the veil of reality to discover hidden meaning that might help us make sense of an often senseless world, Christopher Dow's unique, evocative style suggests that something of greater significance lives within the fabric of the conventional world.

Teetering on the edge of the gutter, ex-cop Clay Guthrie is offered a way out of his bitter isolation. All he has to do is locate a stolen sculpture. The task seems simple enough until he finds himself enmeshed in a series of surreal events that push him to the breaking point. His disturbingly dangerous employers threaten him with pain and death if he fails, and the mysterious old man who is their antagonist forces Guthrie to act on his behalf, warning that worse horrors will greet his success. The only way Guthrie can survive is to find the sculpture and help the old man destroy the terrible power that lives within it. But first, he must endure a series of trials that test his endurance and drive him into the core of his own corruption.

In this satirical take on the dangers of believing your own fictions, a corporate climber named Bob is just about to pull off the sweetest deal of his corrupt career when it's snatched from his grasp. In his anger, Bob suffers a fatal heart attack that sends him plummeting into the pit of Hell. He's greeted by a flea-bitten Cerberus, a snot-nosed demon gives him a book of impossibly complex rules to follow and he's sentenced to an eternity in the pit of boiling...well, his punishment isn't pleasant. But eternity is a long time for someone as ambitious as Bob. Besides, he has a secret weapon: a beautiful but insistently tedious young woman who has attached herself to the Devil like a white shadow. Will the Devil manage to repower the faltering volcano that's the physical symbol of his potency? Will Bob wrest Hell from him and turn it into an amusement park? Will the Devil's white shadow redecorate everything in sight? Whatever happens, you can be sure that all hell is gonna break loose!

Since prehistoric times, peoples the world over have believed in a creative force that inspires life. Throughout history it has been known by many names: mana, prana, ka, and chi, to name only a few. Much has been written about this energy and the ways in which it can be strengthened to enhance life and well-being as well as provide the basis for many of the Eastern martial arts, particularly tai chi chuan. But if chi is real, why is there so little scientific evidence for its existence or for the physiological structures that generate and channel it throughout the body? Moreover, what is the exact nature of chi, and how can it interact with physical reality in the sometimes esoteric ways that are reported? The Wellspring draws together, for the first time, two significant but disparate lines of scientific research that not only identify the physiological structures that produce and channel chi but that point to the true nature of this mysterious power.

In this satiric follow-up to Devil of a Time, corporate climber Bob, a recent inmate of the infernal regions, takes his shenanigans to a whole new level as he seeks to worm his way into Heaven's graces-and the good life that comes with it. But what's a middle-man to do when Heaven's labor force is completely unionized and his potential customers have all their heavenly desires-even contradictory ones-met instantly?But all is not well behind the Pearly Gates. Heaven's infrastructure is collapsing, and Paradise just isn't as blissful as it ought to be. Worse, the Boss is nowhere to be found, leaving Archangel Michael overseeing a situation rapidly growing impossible. Faced with a ponderous, out-of-date infrastructure-and no end in sight-what's an Archangel to do but ally himself with a wily go-getter with devious organizational experience?Before he knows it, Bob is on a mission to fix Heaven, and he plans to leverage his position to the hilt. Will Bob get his company off the clouds and gain permanent Residency? Will he get his heavenly desires? Will he get Nanookie?To find out, he will have to go to the edge of reality, itself.

Out of the ordinary entertainment from the author of Devil of a Time, Jumping Jehovah, Lord of the Loincloth, and other curious and unusual books.A werewolf who meets his match in a wraithlike girl. An artist whose paintings might be a little too real for comfort. An adolescent girl who races a train to a dangerous crossing. A boy who must make a harrowing climb out of the only world he knows to discover the world within himself. A man who learns that the missing step he seeks might not be one he really wants to find.These are just some of the characters in this collection of distinctive and unusual stories that delve into the mysteries of compulsions to lose oneself, and perhaps, to find oneself anew.

Returned after nearly thirty years to the town he once held sway over, John Stroud learns that no matter how many trails he's had to tread and how many obstacles he's had to overcome on his journey to achieve the ultimate in power, more waited ahead.Armed with a ruthless ambition coupled with deadly knowledge, he begins regaining command over his former empire. In his way stand those who now control what once was his as well as the daughter he'd never known. His first act is murder.Effigy is the story of a man obsessed by power and the desire to manipulate reality for his own ends-a man who will do anything necessary to ensure that he gets what he wants. But all his desires lie thwarted and latent until fate presents him with the means to transcend not only his own past, but death itself-if only he can lay his cruel hands on it.

Growing up in a poor mill town in southern Louisiana taught John Stroud one thing: There's no point in caring about a world that doesn't care about you.Unfortunately for Stroud, the world of Woodville was always there, undeniable, oppressive, and inescapable, with absolutely no means of satisfying the ambitions bursting inside him.Effigy is the story of a man obsessed by power and the desire to manipulate reality for his own ends-a man who will do anything necessary to ensure that he gets what he wants. But all his desires lie thwarted and latent until fate presents him with the means to transcend not only his own past, but death itself-if only he can lay his cruel hands on it.

More poetry from the author of City of Dreams, The Trip Out, Texas White Line Fever, and Networks.

When a frightened railroad employee tells Guthrie that a monster in a boxcar ate his co-worker, Guthrie finds himself drawn into a web of corrupt and warped ambition and wanton violence. Traveling to far West Texas in search of the monster, Guthrie and the trainman encounter an organization whose goal is the total destruction of social order and whose weapon is an abomination from the past. Waging a guerrilla war against their enemies beneath the harsh Texas sun, they quickly discover that the nights hold a mortal danger more terrible than their human enemies. With the fate of civilization in the balance, they must eliminate the humans who stand in their way before they can root out and confront a canny and clever inhuman foe.

Living the Story is the meandering, true, and sometimes strange adventures of an unknown writer. Funny, unusual, and occasionally heartbreaking, this is the ultimately inspiring story of a vaguely successful writer's pursuit of an almost impossible dream during the profound changes and cultural upheavals of the last half of the 20th century.

Tai Chi Chuan is an art that adheres to natural laws, and its operating principles and practices can be found in myriad objects, activities, scientific fundamentals, and engineering applications. In Elements of Power, Christoper Dow explores a number of the fascinating connections that can be drawn between Tai Chi and the physical world around us, opening new dimentions to the art. The lessons of Elements of Power can apply to any Tai Chi form, and the book will appeal to anyone-beginner and more experienced practitioner alike-who wishes a deeper understanding of this fascinating and timeless martial art.