Genre: Contemporary
Fiction
Description:
“After being let go from his lousy job and finding his wife in bed
with another man, Benjamin hits the bar, wondering what else could possibly go
wrong—unaware he’s about to have one of the worst days of his life.
‘The universe is playing a series of cruel and unfortunate jokes on
you. More jokes to follow.’
That’s what’s printed on the card Benjamin Goodman receives from a
strange, drunken homeless man he meets at the bar.
In this dark comedy of random and absurd situations, Benjamin
Goodman’s about to get one hell of a wake-up call that he so desperately needs.
Everybody has bad days. Sometimes they can make or break a person. If Benjamin
wants to get through his horrendous day in one piece, he’ll have to do the one
thing he’s been afraid to do his entire life.
He’ll have to stand up for himself.”
Author:
“Michael Crane is an indie author and short story writer. Switching
between slice-of-life fiction and horror stories, he is the author of IN DECLINE (stories), PIECES (stories), GIGGLES (a novella), and a number of drabble collections (Lessons and Other Morbid Drabbles, Lessons II: Another Morbid Drabble
Collection, Lessons III: Demonic
Dolls and Other Morbid Drabbles, Lessons
IV: The Dead Carnival and Other Morbid Drabbles). He currently lives in
Illinois.
Some of his favorite writers are Raymond Carver, Alice Munro, Ray
Bradbury, Richard Yates, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palahniuk.”
Appraisal:
Benjamin Goodman is certainly having a bad day, which turns from bad
to worse as the day goes by. It becomes pretty obvious that Ben was raised in a
dysfunctional family environment, he is extremely passive and feels like he
deserves to be miserable. He is the saddest and most pathetic human I have read
about in ages. The deplorable hobo who shows up in the strangest places reminds
me of a dysfunctional fairy godfather, who seems perfectly fitting for Benjamin.
The storyline seemed a little slow, for me, at times and perhaps a little
repetitious. However, looking back I can
see how each event helped build the impetus needed to push Benjamin in the
direction he needed to go. Mr. Crane wove in humor and absurdity as we follow
Benjamin throughout his day.
The ending is strangely satisfying and I hope Benjamin doesn’t have
any more bad days in his future for a long while. The man needs a break.
FYI:
Adult language with several F-bombs.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating:
**** Four Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 45-50,000 words
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