Tim Horvath's Understories

Understories by Tim Horvath, is a collection of short stories exhibiting international scope and influences. Students who advance order a copy through the following link are eligible to receive $10 off their class tuition. Read details below:

Mesali students may be interested in Tim Horvath's Understories, a collection of short stories exhibiting international scope and influences. The stories range from Greenland to Germany, from places real to invented cities: Morrisania, whose mayor seeks to eliminate rain, Vassilonia, a once-proud city that consisted only of restaurants, now fallen into famine, and Palamoa, a city so obsessed with film that all of its walls are considered potential screens. What if the painter Paul Gauguin had gone to the arctic north instead of Tahiti? What if there were a field called umbrology, the study of shadows, where physicists and shadow puppeteers worked side by side?

Full of speculative daring though firmly anchored in the tradition of realism, Horvath’s stories explore all of this and more— blending the everyday and wondrous to contend with age-old themes of loss, identity, imagination, and the search for human connection. Whether making offhand references to Mystery Science Theater, providing a new perspective on Heidegger’s philosophy and forays into Nazism, or following the imaginary travels of a library book, Horvath’s writing is as entertaining as it is thought provoking. Students who advance order a copy through the following link are eligible to receive $10 off their class tuition (the book costs $10.06, so it means just paying for shipping).

http://www.amazon.com/Understories-Tim-Horvath/dp/1934137448