Pirate Therapy and Other Cures

Ever wondered what might happen if your therapist was replaced by a pirate? Or how disquieting it would be to receive postcards from your future self? If William Shatner was elected President of the United States, what would his inaugural address sound like? Mark A. Rayner tackles these, and stranger, questions in his collection of short stories, essays and flash fiction that thrum with the absurd and hum with alienation, all to a humorous beat. Jesus contends with dinosaurs. Marcel Duchamp describes what happens to a Dadaist who has a monkey's tail grafted to his butt. Whether he is explaining how Anne of Green Gables destroyed the world, or outlining Thor's new PR strategy, Rayner entertains with wit, humor and an imagination that is one step short of certifiable.

"Mark A. Rayner is just a terrific storyteller and one of the most imaginative and original writers you will ever have the pleasure of reading. Do yourself a favor, grab this book and settle down for a journey into places you've never been to before and characters you will be delighted to meet. Pirate Therapy is one of the most enjoyable collections I've ever read, and an absolute joy from cover to cover."
-- Ian Ferguson, Author of Village of the Small Houses

"I know some very funny people. I've also met lots of writers. But I've only come across a few truly funny writers, and Mark Rayner is one of them."
-- Terry Fallis, Author of Best Laid Plans

"Virtuosically combining the techniques of speculative fiction and political commentary with wide learning in the Romish faith, Dadaism and the Gruntwerx Paradigm, Mark A. Rayner gives us a rich array of concise vignettes, clothed in such neglected genres as the postcard, the email message and the agony column cri de coeur. Never has pop culture been so hilariously satirized, nor history so perversely revised."
-- Tom Bradley, Author of Lemur and Bomb Baby