Demons Hide Their Faces

Demons Hide Their Faces

A. A. Attanasio

Fiction 183 pages (Kindle)

2011

This collection of short fiction for Kindle contains seven stories which appeared in print in “Twice Dead Things”. As a shorter collection, “Demon’s Hide their Faces” provides a good introduction to A. A. Attanasio for those not yet familiar with his writing.

In general, Attanasio writes science fiction and fantasy — but not always — and both can be found in this volume. Two of the stories, however, don’t strictly meet my criteria for either genre. I consider “Death’s Head Moon”, like Attanasio’s novel, “Kingdom of the Grail”, to be historical fiction, albeit tinged with the fantastic and mythical. Attanasio’s character, Richard Malone, is plunged into ancient Irish myth while fighting alongside Seamus Doyle during the First World War. When the war ends, he carries his ghosts and a volume of Nietzsche, through a rough and tumble life until a hobo translates a few words of the book he carries.

Malone’s life takes several more turns and he ends up in Hawaii. Here too, he encounters the mythical, only now it wears new masks. What begins as a war story ends as a detective story and in a surprise. There is no escaping the Death’s Head Moon.

My favorite story, “Ink from the New Moon,” takes place in an alternate history in which Chinese, rather than Europeans, were the first to settle the U.S.A. In this alternate history, Attanasio is able to bring a westerner’s interpretation to Buddhist concepts while preserving the story’s Chinese sensibility. This melancholy story of love and loss opens the collection and primes the reader for the stories that follow — stories that engage both emotionally and philosophically.

An eSolution for Book Sellers

I recently attended a writer’s summit where several authors predicted that physical bookstores would soon face extinction. Some also predicted that eBooks would soon replace printed books. I am more doubtful about the second prediction than I am about the first, however eBooks are gaining momentum, and unless brick and mortar book stores have an easy way to sell them, their business will surely suffer.

Why should it matter? If eBooks are quickly and cheaply obtainable online, then who cares if book stores go the way of the dinosaurs? Well, some people do care. People are already complaining about having to read some of their books on a Kindle and others on a Nook. Additionally, if several large vendors dominate the market, consumers will have less influence on prices, and possibly fewer choices of reading matter.

Book stores serve social purposes. They provide places for authors to meet their readers and autograph their books (eAutographs?). They also provide meeting places for book clubs, and their well-read personnel help readers make informed purchasing decisions.

But there is a simple solution. If eBook publishers agreed to adopt a standard file format, and if an eBook licensing clearinghouse were created, then readers would be able to buy eBooks published by Amazon for their Nooks. Independent book sellers would be able to provide eBooks for every variety of eReader. Libraries and individuals could easily lend their books, and free markets would thrive.

The alternative future, in which a few large corporations control access to books, is not an option. Taken to extremes, a literary dark age would result. An impartial clearinghouse would assure that information remain broadly accessible, and a standard eBook format, like feet and meters, miles and kilometers, would assure a level playing field.

The Drunk Diet - Change your life without losing your style

The Drunk Diet
Lüc Carl
Nonfiction/Memoir 272 pages
St. Martin's Press, 2012

Lüc Carl wanted to lose his spare tire without compromising on his lifestyle. And so The Drunk Diet was born. Since other diets advised cutting out booze Carl developed a plan of his own – he began exercising and eating healthier foods while continuing to drink.

If the premise seems too good to be true, take heed of the disclaimer in the front of the book. Carl says that his title is intentionally flippant and that he does not advise ignoring physician’s advice, exercising while drunk, or being alcoholic. About half-way through the book, the reader learns that Carl cut way back on his beer consumption. Toward the end it’s revealed that Carl is drinking a lot less now and sometimes abstains entirely. He also reveals that of his original group of friends, only he learned to control his drinking. The others either sobered up or sank down into addiction.

If Carl’s memoir sets an example to follow, its example is an unusual one. Many people lose the ability to drink responsibly after a long stretch of time spent drinking heavily. So if you’re a borderline alcoholic, Carl’s diet may help you lose weight, but leave you with other problems.

That said, losing weight, quitting smoking, and learning to exercise vigorously all require discipline to achieve. Carl describes how he went from contemplating weight loss to making an active, and creative, effort to achieve his goal. Along the way his attitudes and behavior changed as he neared his goal. And discipline isn’t something that can be applied for a while and then forgotten. Carl continues to use self-discipline to maintain his achievements.

The book is easy to read and some will find it inspirational, however it glorifies the inglorious. The flaw in Carl’s approach is that it fails to critically examine Carl’s former lifestyle. Although Carl drinks less now, his initial goal was to lose the extra weight caused by drinking too much and eating badly. He attacks the lifestyle’s results, but not the lifestyle itself. He comes down on the Man for pushing drugs and states that “doctors are street-level dealers,” while sparing fellow bartenders, omitting the fact that if the Man pushes pharmaceuticals, He also pushes liquor.