Rustbelt Fables

Book excerpt: This is the author's third book, the first being a memoir of sorts and the second was in the genre of erotic fiction. It is a collection of thirteen short stories, all based on or inspired by the fables of Aesop. Although it would be impossible to either add to or detract from Aesop's, the fables were starting points for stories mostly based in the mythical town of Rustbelt City. Apparently, as much wisdom is required for life in the American Midwest as in ancient Greece. And, just as in our own lives, there is a moral hidden somewhere in each of the stories. Unlike in the compilers of Aesop's stories where the morals are handily given to us, we'll have to ferret out the meaning for ourselves. Instead of anthills and agoras, the scenes shift from pagan Greece to pool halls and Fitzpatrick's tavern. Not so cleverly disguised are locales once dear to my heart in a grimy, industrial city that now exists only in my imagination.