Add some Color to your life!

Color –by Gary Alexander

Poetry

Chapbook

23 pages / 3513 KB

5 Stars

Having thoroughly enjoyed a couple of Mr. Alexander's novels I decided to take a chance on his poetry. I was not disappointed!

Each poem is titled with a color, and if necessary, a number.

If you've ever been frightened away from poetry because it's "too academic" and hard to understand, give Color a try! The poems are great fun, and totally non-academic. As he says, there is no iambic pentameter to be found within the covers (real or virtual) of this charming little book.

There is, however, humor. And food for thought served on a very accessible plate.

Buy and read Color. It will brighten your day, and your new year. Honest. Trust me.

Humpty Dumpty for Adults

 Humpty Dumpty – An Adult Anthology – by Gary Alexander

Fiction, Humor

180 pages / 793 KB

Any book that sends me to the dictionary is, by definition, a good book. But any book that sends me to the dictionary because of the title is, by definition a great book. Yes, the title of this book sent me scrambling. The word: Anthology. I grew up under the impression that an anthology was a collection of whatevers by various and different authors, but in fact, I find out it can also be a collection of whatevers by the same author! Thanks, Mr. Alexander, for teaching this old dog a new trick, er, definition!

These are not just a retelling of old nursery rhymes, they are a reimagining and reliving of them, and a great deal of fun. Don't be put off by the word 'Adult' in the title. There is some sex, but not graphic and not gratuitous, it fits well with the story in which it resides.

There are many places that are laugh-out-loud funny, and it's OK to do just that, unless you're reading in the library. Of course, your bus mates may look askance but what the heck. And if you're taking a night class at the local college, you might not want to read this when you should be listening to the lecture. I guarantee you'll laugh at the most inopportune moment and fail the class.

It will soon be time to think about 'stocking stuffers' and this book is a perfect solution!

Some Dragons Create Hell -- Others Make it Bearable

Dragon Lady –by Gary Alexander

Fiction

320 pages, 443 KB

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

5 Stars

Any book that sends me to the dictionary, either hard copy or online, or better yet, the encyclopedia, is bound to become a favorite of mine. And Dragon Lady did just that. I was sure Ton Son Nhat was the wrong spelling, that it should have been Ton Son Nhut. Guess what? I learned something!

This novel is by a Viet Nam Vet, and the flashbacks take place back when it was still two words, Viet Nam. The first thing Mr. Alexander did that I enjoyed, was have the narrator living (is that the right word for a dead man?) in The Land Beyond vs. The Land of the Living. Our narrator, Joe, is wonderful as he looks back on his life in Saigon, and his love, the Dragon Lady, the beautiful Mai.

In the first place, I'm not one hundred percent sure Joe is a fictional character (though how he writes from They Land Beyond is, well, beyond me) as I'm sure I met him when I was in the WAC. Or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof.  Or was that me? Well, never mind.

Joe, and his pal Ziggy, were wonderful, and though I might not want to invite them home for dinner, I'd probably love to know them. Joe is sarcastic, a screw off who actually gets more done than Radar O'Reilly (M*A*S*H) and has a great time doing it. He loves Terry and the Pirates, and his mother faithfully sends him the Sunday funnies every week so he can read about Terry and the real Dragon Lady.

And then he meets Mai, and falls head over heels in love with his own Dragon Lady. But who is Mai? Which story she tells is true?

This is a war story more on the lines of Catch-22 than All's Quiet on the Western Front. If you're a 'Nam vet, or know one, and want to know what it was like behind the lines, so to speak, read this book. Lots of humor (back to M*A*S*H and Catch 22) and not a lot of violence and bloodshed.

Joe and Ziggy were guys I liked, and pulled for, and I'm still sure I knew them. I think they were at Smiley Barracks, Karlsruhe when I was stationed there. Or was it Fort McClellan? Or, maybe....