The Acorn Stories (West Texas Tales)

General Fiction, Humor

By Duane Simolke

Publisher : iUniverse

ABOUT Duane Simolke

Duane Simolke
Duane Simolke lives in Lubbock, Texas. Three of his books received StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Awards, and one received an AllBooks Reviewers Choice Award. He edited and co-wrote the fundraiser The Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against Cancer. DuaneSimolke.Com includes some of h More...

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Description

"Acorn": When we arrive at the fictional West Texas town of Acorn, the narrative keeps shifting between Regina and Dirk, who both seek control over their relationship.

 

"Flip, Turn": A different scene from the narrator's amusing but unproductive life comes to him every time he turns to swim in the opposite direction.

 

"Keeping A Secret": A little boy wants to shield his mother and his little brother from a dangerous situation.

 

"Survival": A young teacher (both deaf and gay) clashes with a popular football coach.

 

"Paying The Rent": In this politically incorrect tale, an inarticulate young man hopes to marry a rich woman so he can pay the rent, but he finds her repulsive.

 

"Morgana Le Fay": A widow finds her new romance disrupted by her Siamese cat's strange behavior.

 

"Your Daughter": Gretchen's approach to raising a daughter and maintaining a marriage requires ignoring problems and carefully orchestrating conversations.

 

"Knock": A father sees his daughter abandon her Mexican heritage, and he now fears other types of abandonment.

 

"Come With Me": The conflictive influence of her overbearing sister and her supportive husband forces Becky to re-evaluate her ambitions.

 

"Dead Enough": Farcical look at English departments, tabloid TV, the publishing industry, and America's superstar culture.

 

"Mae": Standing by her husband's grave, an elderly woman looks back at the joys and challenges of marriage and motherhood.

 

"Timothy Fast": In this satirical retelling of the Faustian myth, a Jewish businessman finds himself pulled into small-town politics.

 

"Mirrors: A Blackmail Letter": The owner of an art gallery becomes the target of a "family values" witch-hunt, spear-headed by Acorn's closeted (ex-gay) mayor.

 

"Echoes": A time of unexpected changes for Becky and her husband.

 

"Oak": Julie Briggs can only talk to her mother by leaving messages on her answering machine, but she refuses to give up her voice.

 

"Acorn Pie": An unusual weekend in the life of an unusual town.

 

“A lush tangle of small-town life branches out in this engrossing collection of short stories.” –Kirkus Reviews

 

“The ability to depict such a wide cross section of humanity, including details of each character’s breadth of knowledge and experience, takes a talented, insightful author, and Duane Simolke is such a writer.” –E. Conley, Betty’s Books

 

“If you liked WINESBURG, OHIO…rejoice.” –Watchword

 

“By the time you have finished reading these tales of the people who inhabit the fictitious town of Acorn, Texas, population 21,001, you will have met some endearing as well as irritating characters, from the Mayor to the local would-be gigolo; from the busy-bodies to the business owners; from those who grew up in Acorn and have tried to escape the small town to those who have moved to Acorn to escape from the real world.” –Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Uncle Sean

 

“A well-crafted collection of short stories.” –L. L. Lee, author of Taxing Tallula

 

“When you finish, when you put the book aside, Acorn will still be with you.” –E. Carter Jones, author of Absence of Faith

 

“I highly recommend this book!” –Richard Carlson, author of Jeremy Grabowski's Crazy Summer in Stormville!

 

“It was a real pleasure to read about the fictional town of Acorn, Texas.” –Mark Kendrick, author of Desert Sons

 

“Simolke makes good use of his vivid imagination in creating credible dialogue and satirical images.” –Huda Orfali, author of Blue Fire

 

“There are people that you like, some that you can't wait to see if they get theirs.” –Joe Wright, StoneWall Society

 

“Each of Simolke's stories lets us look into the lives of some of the most interesting characters I have ever read about.” –Amos Lassen, Literary Pride