Revelation Countdown: Short Fiction (Studies in Monasticism)

A collection of stories by award-winning California writer Cris Mazza that reveal the open road to be not romanticized freedom but an unsettling loss of control.

While in many ways reaffirming the mythic dimension of being on the road romanticized in American pop and fold culture, Revelation Countdown also subtly undermines that view. These stories project onto the open road not the nirvana of personal freedom, but rather a type of freedom more closely resembling loss of control. Being in constant motion and passing through new environments destabilizes life, casts it out of phase, heightens perception, and skews reactions. Every little problem is magnified to overwhelming dimension. Events segue from slow motion to fast forward. Background noises intrude, causing perpetual wee hour insomnia. Imagination flourishes, often as an enemy. People suddenly discover that they never really understood their travel companions. The formerly stable line of their lives veers off course. In such an atmosphere, the title Revelation Countdown, borrowed from a roadside sign in Tennessee, proves prophetic. It may not arrive at 7:30, but revelation will inevitably find the traveler.

Cris Mazza has published nine novels, including Animal Acts, Is It Sexual Harassment Yet?, Dog People, Homeland, Disability, and Various Men who Knew us as Girls as well as four collections of short stories, and a collection of essays.