TOLERANCE, A collection of short stories copyright by Kathleen Osborne et al. Edited by Kathleen Osborne and Soleah Sadge. Published by Kathleen Osborne et al.
The book is described as similar to the old phonographic discs that held recordings on both sides. Side A contains ten short stories based on Tolerance. The individual tales cover a wide variety of different subjects ranging from what it would be like to be able to eavesdrop through fantasy/magical realism, on a restricted conversation indulged in by persons placing them; “realistic fiction”; imaginative fiction, literary fiction; sci-fi/romance; even a memoir and a couple of unique stories authored by individuals as described. The authors range from an “emerging author” and a “late bloomer” arriving from numerous years in the military and other pursuits to well accepted professional authors. One is unique in having acquired a passion for learning a different manner of expression that is displayed here; another, ‘coming-to-grips-with a position as a member of the Jewish Faith’ with “its own dysfunctions and historical misfortune”; another prefers light fantasy; sci-fi and time travel; still another who travels extensively to places “tied to legends and folklore that she can include in her stories” and “is a fiction writer whose preferred genre is “contemporary fantasy with a touch of romance”; one more “works in pseudo-technology and has an innate ability to find street tacos in every city.” Still another describes himself as a man who “has an answer for everything, opinion on anything, and is quiet about nothing” and provides an approach to history, its existence and interpretation, past, present and future (?) – His stated preference is sci-fi/time travel. Side B, the “flipside” contains short stories “from the heart of these same authors”.
Discussion: This book offers an eclectic collection of unusual (strange?) stories in a variety of genres that can initiate thoughtful contemplation. Side B perhaps offers an even greater cause for rumination about the authors, their thought processes and similarities-dissimilarities between their offerings on both sides of ‘the disc’.
3* 5* – 2* Strange anthology readers will like or dislike, but be unlikely to forget.