Breaking With The Absurd: A collection of existential short stories and short shorts

Bodensteiner, John

ISBN 10: 1980620504 / ISBN 13: 9781980620501

Published by Independently published, 2018

About this Item

68 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.17 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # zk1980620504

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Breaking With The Absurd: A collection of existential short stories and short shorts
• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1980620504
• ISBN 13: 9781980620501
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.15 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

“I am not of this world, or so it seems from all visible signs.”What could a quiet 23-year-old finance major starting his first job in the business world in the early 1980’s possibly have to say about philosophy and metaphysics? As it turns out, quite a lot! A soliloquy on life delivered from a precarious perch; a fable of a mystical black box that promises an aging emperor a solution to his unhappiness; a spider’s perspective on the human condition, conveyed in one unending sentence; a glimpse of the most exciting moments from the life of a falling leaf; ; a three-minute play featuring two strangers discussing changing norms of existence, expressed entirely through interrogative sentences – you’ll find all of these in this 16-piece collection of philosophical and metaphysical short stories and short shorts borrowing heavily from the Theater of the Absurd. Most of these stories tread along the rocky ledge of existentialism while simultaneously contemplating a possible climb up the cliff of potential fulfillment and truth. But there is some subtle humor to be found here, too, either in the pun-filled titles, the quirky use of spellings and sentence structure, or the pathetic, self-deprecating thoughts of some of the protagonists.But how did such a book come to be? Venturing into the working world and struggling with notions about true self-awareness and the purpose of life, the author completed these short stories within a two-year period…and then sentenced the whole collection to a dank file cabinet in the basement for another 35 years! In a turn of events that mirrors their messages of despair and questioning intermingled with hope and optimism, these treasured pieces are finally realizing their rescue from what must have seemed to them a state of hopeless exile. Most of these stories will leave you pondering life from a different angle, and perhaps wondering what is “normal.” Some will make you smile to yourself. View this book as an escape from the real world, if for only a few minutes at a time. Take a quick break...with the world of the absurd.