The Tethered Goat: A Collection of Short Stories from Gary Bonn

Opening a book by Gary Bonn is like no other reading experience. It can be like a roller-coaster ride, like leaving planetary orbit, like drowning - you’re never quite sure where he will take you. Even more fascinating, you’re never sure quite how he will do it. You’ll find stories here that are so grimly realistic they are emotionally harrowing. But you’ll also go beyond realism to other worlds, crystal worlds, underwater worlds, strange arenas where men fight in the dust, weird islands where another kind of order prevails, magical worlds where everything that you thought was real is challenged. Laugh; cry; feel; think: Bonn is one of the exceptional writers who can make you do all of those at once, whose writing style makes it difficult at times to breathe because you’re transported and they don’t breathe the same air in that story. If there is a cutting edge of storytelling, Bonn is ahead of it, sharpening the blade.