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Trace Elements
"Tracy is what so few other writers, even the great ones, are . . . an original."
Ed Gorman in his Introduction
"His fascination with human beings of all stripes linked with his skills as a writer and poet combine to shape the voice and form of his stories."
Here are 13 stories both bizarre and humane.
A young intern is assigned to deal with an outcast man who suffers psychotic
episodes every Father's Day.
A man sets out to murder both himself and his deformed daughter, who can't
tell him that she loves being alive.
The bulbous-headed nursing-home patient has absorbed more human grief than even a visitor to earth can bear . . . and it's all spilling out.
Ed Gorman in his Introduction
"His fascination with human beings of all stripes linked with his skills as a writer and poet combine to shape the voice and form of his stories."
Here are 13 stories both bizarre and humane.
A young intern is assigned to deal with an outcast man who suffers psychotic
episodes every Father's Day.
A man sets out to murder both himself and his deformed daughter, who can't
tell him that she loves being alive.
The bulbous-headed nursing-home patient has absorbed more human grief than even a visitor to earth can bear . . . and it's all spilling out.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 3, 2014
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 21, 2021
All of the stories speak such prophetic messages about human nature. My favorite is "Autumn Tethers", and my least liked story in the book was "Moths in the Damp Grass". Both have such a supernatural connection, yet are very hopeful about mental illness and restoration of the mind, body, and spirit. The latter being the darker of the two.
My favorite quote of the book, comes from the final story, "The Glassy Apes".
"We shall have to do the best we can to experience and endure every shred of the lives we live."
It reminds me of something my mom once told me, when we discussed what death and going to heaven might be like. She gave me this book before she got too sick and passed away. I remember reading a few of the stories to her in the hospital. After those many times spent in the hospital the last year of her life on this earth, she made the choice to return home on hospice and live out the rest of her life there in her home with her husband and family around her.
My favorite quote of the book, comes from the final story, "The Glassy Apes".
"We shall have to do the best we can to experience and endure every shred of the lives we live."
It reminds me of something my mom once told me, when we discussed what death and going to heaven might be like. She gave me this book before she got too sick and passed away. I remember reading a few of the stories to her in the hospital. After those many times spent in the hospital the last year of her life on this earth, she made the choice to return home on hospice and live out the rest of her life there in her home with her husband and family around her.
Displaying 1 of 1 review