Böcker av Hal Howland

An amazing collection of short stories from Key West writer and musician Hal Howland, you will encounter several popular characters from Howland's previous titles and introduces a world of unforgettable newcomers. The first of two title stories reminisces about a lifetime spent living in and visiting great cities around the globe. And the second title story remembers the women with whom a man came of age, if not into maturity. Also you will find "Evidence," where a middle-aged actor remembers two former girlfriends, opposites in every way, who presumably still own photographs of him naked. "The Grand Tour" follows a small-time nineteen seventies crooner and his disparate bandmates on a hilarious American road trip. "Jocelyn Davies" tells of a lovelorn singer whose sexual awakening dissolves a stalled relationship. "Piano Trio" describes a noisy sex romp taking place upstairs in an old woman's guesthouse. And "The Mansfield Effect" recalls a comic one-night stand with an over-endowed drama student. More than 30 stories in all.

From Acrophobia to Oratorio to Public Sex, the themes found in Hal Howland's collection of short stories are eclectic. What do you do when your CIA dad disappears is the question posed in "Dad Fakes His Death and Goes West." The island paradise of Key West gets a new sexual awakening in "The Southernmost Erection." The frustrations of loving a 19-year-old beauty are explored in "The Younger Woman's Wordplay." And international intrigues come to the forefront in the novella "After Jerusalem." Also, folded in among several other stories is the dazzling title piece about one Ike Ireton of Radius Records, "The Jazz Buyer."

In the allegorical novella After Jerusalem, a beautiful Palestinian double agent in the Israeli army and a visiting American pianist are caught up in a plot to assassinate the prime minister of Israel.In "Acrophobia and the Professor," a distinguished marine biologist battles her irrational fear of heights.In "American Oratorio," an eighteenth-century colonial composer accidentally duplicates the world's most famous piece of choral music."An Army of Beggars" finds a stoned Florida Keys homeowner taking a break from gardening to entertain conflicting hallucinations.In "Dad Fakes His Death and Goes West," the middle-aged son of a CIA agent dreams that his father made good on his threat to trade domestic predictability for the rugged frontier life of his youth.In "The Fine Art of Professional Suicide" (featuring several characters from Howland's previous titles), a Key West writer learns the danger of using an old friend as the model for a fictional femme fatale."The Jazz Buyer" celebrates the goofy cast of characters who make up the staff of a doomed Baltimore record store."Murder in the Ivory Tower" travels the dark corridors of an East Coast music conservatory where genius and mediocrity share the spotlight."The Permanent Resident" examines the fine line between living alone and living a fantasy.In "Public Sex," a beautiful Georgetown sex addict visits a twelve-step program just for fun.In "The Southernmost Erection," an anonymous philanthropist challenges a tacky tourist town to clean up its act.In "Stay," a Key West taxi driver unwittingly causes a series of suicides and then seeks the counsel of a psychic friend-with-benefits."A Whole New Leonard" follows a Miami journalist distracted by a dramatic overnight change in his anatomy.And "The Younger Woman's Wordplay" recalls an intellectually stimulating romance with a horrible secret.