<![CDATA[Severance: Stories]]>

false <![CDATA[Severance: Stories]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173458026m/291103.jpg

291103

The human head is believed to remain in a state of consciousness for one and one-half minutes after decapitation. In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at the rate of 160 words per minute. Inspired by the intersection of these two seemingly unrelated concepts, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler wrote sixty-two stories, each exactly 240 words in length, capturing the flow of thoughts and feelings that go through a person's mind after their head has been severed. The characters are both real and imagined Medusa (beheaded by Perseus, 2000 BC), Anne Boleyn (beheaded at the behest of Henry VIII, 1536), a chicken (beheaded for Sunday dinner, Alabama, 1958), and the author (decapitated, on the job, 2008). Told with the intensity of a poet and the wit of a great storyteller, these final thoughts illuminate and crystallize more about the characters' own lives and the worlds they inhabit than many writers manage to convey in full-length biographies or novels. The stories, which have appeared in literary magazines across the country, are a delightful and intriguing creative feat from one of today's most inventive writers.

282429

2006

Severance: Stories

total:165|5:31|4:67|3:42|2:16|1:9|

165

590

265

4 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 18 14:22:24 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 18 14:22:24 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Sep 17 15:44:44 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 15:56:58 -0700 2007
he calls them short stories but i say they're poetry. they each follow a structure (a set amount of words which he estimates a person could ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 01 21:16:14 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 15:40:33 -0700 2009
"In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at the rate of 160 words per minute."

Pulitzer Prize-winning Robert Olen Butler has written 6...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 05:27:52 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 11:02:33 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 03 13:13:25 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 13:14:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 11 false false Thu Apr 30 21:37:55 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 20:54:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Jul 11 10:24:26 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 10:24:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 14 20:53:14 -0800 2008 Sun Jun 08 21:18:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 11 19:35:41 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 19:49:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jun 22 06:06:11 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 22 06:06:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 18:44:05 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 09:41:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 07 09:01:35 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 21:29:19 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 24 20:00:32 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 25 09:04:11 -0700 2009
Butler came up with the idea after learning that the brain may still be aware for up to 180 se...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Apr 25 17:04:37 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 17:09:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 11:11:44 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 14:14:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 08:13:58 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 14:49:37 -0800 2008 This collection of very short stories - more prose poems, really - stems from a quote from an 18th century medical text that a person remains conscious for two minutes after their head is severed... and so we are drawn into the stream-of-consciousness last thoughts of more than 50 people, both...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 17:52:01 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 17:53:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 31 13:18:11 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 14:10:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed May 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 21:32:39 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 15:27:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 13:27:03 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 09:47:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=291103