Lulu Marketplace

Starting from the premise that each of us really is a plaything of forces beyond our control, Bill Braine twists the universe into a helium balloon animal, runs it over when it tries to cross a rural highway at night, inhales its dying vapor and dictates a bunch of stories into a tape recorder in the resulting cartoonishly high voice. In these eight stories, five skits and one epic poem we meet a vaguely familiar mix of cranks, complainers, ditherers, idealists and paranoiacs. Unfortunately for Braine’s characters, their world really IS out to get them. Fortunately for us, we can sit in our comfiest chair and laugh while they squirm. Good luck, guys!