When I asked women friends for volunteers to beta-read this anthology, a dozen stepped forward. But one said she would not look at this section: “I’m opposed to war in all forms.” I understand. Women are life’s creators and nurturers. An aversion to killing lives in most women, and many ridicule men’s penchant for war. […]
Elya and I are sitting at a small patio table in a nice little breakfast place in Santa Barbara. It’s our anniversary, not our wedding anniversary, but the anniversary of the day we first got together at Starbucks five years ago. It’s a Sunday and the place is packed. We’ve ordered and I’m waiting for
A Busload of Banjo Players by Jon Pearson Read More »
Due to contractual limitations, I can’t publish Philip Roth’s “The Chaos of Eros,” on this website though it will appear in the printed version of Heart of a Man. In 2008, The Dying Animal, from which “The Chaos of Eros” is excerpted, was made into a movie, Elegy, starring Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz. This
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Here are works by Byron & Shakespeare as they appear in the printed book on a 2-page spread, related by the graces of theme & type. And here is how the two look standing alone, in blog format. Donna Julia’s Letter to Don Juan by Lord Byron Man’s love is of man’s life a thing
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When I see her
I hold myself a little tighter,
A little straighter,
Appearing more attractive …
What Men Want by Russ Allison Loar Read More »
So there I was at 7:30 am, master of an empty parking lot at Ala Wai Golf Course, in service to the Parks Department’s Lei Queen Contest. I’d been there an hour. I was cold and grumpy. The turnout for this event was meager, as usual. I slumped over a cup of coffee with other
Lei Queen Contest by Jeff Gere Read More »
Love and lust make the world go ’round. This is the introduction to the “Love & Lust” section of Heart of a Man.
Twenty horses and a crank starter – never made ’em better than the Tin Lizzie said Grandpa, a machinist at the brass mill, the Model T a shining image, youth and freedom. Henry Ford – two words jangling in his pocket: Living wage. Eight-hour day. Dad loved the ’48 half-ton he found for a few
Old Blue Volvo by Mike Schneider Read More »
This was our first night home from the hospital, my wife recovering from her C-section, and something was wrong. Our baby cried right till dawn, only taking a breath to be fed when I carried him to his mother’s breast in the darkness. Then I’d hold him to my shoulder and pat his tiny back,
The Door by Andre Dubus III Read More »
The most important man in my life was my father. I loved my dad though as with some fathers and sons, we had our disagreements. “Agreeing to disagree,” he called it. An electronics engineer by nature and an independent by trade, he wouldn’t have wanted it otherwise. Dad expressed his love for me in many