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Caleb Warner

Goodreads Author

Born

Sugar Grove, Illinois, The United States

Website

https://www.allisvanitypress.com/

Genre

Fantasy, Surrealism, Fiction

Influences

Bjork, Kate Bush

Member Since

January 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/iholdtheline

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5.28.26 There was once a boy born with a terrible birth defect. The nurses took him away as soon as he was born.
"My baby!" the mother cried.
The nurses explained to the woman that she could see her child after he had been examined more properly by the state official.
"Just rest," the doctor explained when he came back, snapping off his gloves. He pressed the headlamp up higher on his forehead. "You can see him in the morning."
"Is everything going to be okay?" the father asked, holding his wife's hand.
"The child is healthy," the doctor said, "there is only one complication which the country must properly record."
The next morning, the state official knocked on their door. He was a short man with deeply inset eyes and a narrow nose.
"Good 5.28.26 There was once a boy born with a terrible birth defect. The nurses took him away as soon as he was born.
"My baby!" the mother cried.
The nurses explained to the woman that she could see her child after he had been examined more properly by the state official.
"Just rest," the doctor explained when he came back, snapping off his gloves. He pressed the headlamp up higher on his forehead. "You can see him in the morning."
"Is everything going to be okay?" the father asked, holding his wife's hand.
"The child is healthy," the doctor said, "there is only one complication which the country must properly record."
The next morning, the state official knocked on their door. He was a short man with deeply inset eyes and a narrow nose.
"Good morning," he said. He was holding a clipboard, but not the baby.
"Sir, we really must see our son very soon," the father said. He sat in the corner balancing a tray of food on his knees. His wife leaned forward in the bed to accept a grape on the end of the husband's fork.
The state official cleared his throat. "You will see your son as soon as I have finished speaking. I am only here to tell you not to be alarmed."
"We will love him," the mother said after swallowing, "no matter what."
The state official's lanyard dangled forward as he gave a little bow and called the nurses in.
The nurses wheeled in a small bed on wheels. As soon as seeing the child, the state official excused himself.
The head nurse picked up the small warm package and mirthlessly handed him to the mother who lifted out her weak outstretched arms, machine cords wrapped around them, for her son.
The husband's face flushed, but the mother only looked confused.
The head nurse leaned forward and whispered exactly what it was they were seeing, as if to confirm for them it was no dream. "You see," she said, pointing out the places with her index finger, "he was born with his eyes on the sides of his head."
It was true. The child's eyes were above his ears. They were a dark blue. He had long lashes. Everything else was quite in place.
"He is healthy besides this, we've made sure of it," the nurse said. Then, as if ashamed for even being there, her and the other nurse promptly wheeled the bed away and shut the door.
"Look. It's your daddy," the mother said, stifling her nervous trembling. She faced her son to his father, but besides being a newborn he could not have seen his dad this way, because he could not see what was in front of him.
The mother and the father realized this at the same time. Overcome with sadness and relief, the husband rushed to put his arms around his wife and child. "It's okay," he said, "Like you said, we will love him no matter what."
They named the child West, because, "He will be able to look both north and south when he faces West."
You see, in that country everybody was born with their eyes on the front of their heads. The people could see always what was in front of them, but never what was beside them. This is why when they came to the country from the east, they did not go north or south, but migrated slowly west over time. In the day of this child's birth, the country had already made preparations to migrate even further west across the vast ocean, to live on big boats.
As West grew, the parents discovered that his defect affected everything. He struggled to make friends, for example, because the kids called him Fish Boy. His parents assumed that his increasing moroseness came from their meanness. But something unpredictable was happening with West.
The parents feared for him all the time. The only exception was when they were crossing a street. [...] ...more

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Caleb Warner’s books

Average rating: 4.1 · 10 ratings · 6 reviews · 2 distinct works

	Flock and Home: Six Short Stories by Caleb Warner (Goodreads Author), Evan Wilson (Foreword) 4.13 avg rating — 8 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Let's Get Out of This Country by Caleb Joseph Warner, Caleb Warner (Goodreads Author) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Caleb is Currently Reading

Caleb is currently reading

The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other

by Walker Percy

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Sep 29, 2026 11:43AM

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Lincoln

by Gore Vidal

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Caleb said: " i enjoyed this, ending started to drag, but vv worth reading if you want to get a good snapshot of the politics at the time. "

Sep 29, 2026 11:42AM · see review

Caleb is currently reading

The Journal, 1837-1861

by Henry David Thoreau

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Caleb said: " on my nightstand, just dip in and out "

Jun 02, 2026 01:41PM · see review

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Caleb is currently reading The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other by Walker Percy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 29, 2026 11:43AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Message in the Bottle by Walker Percy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Message in the Bottle by Walker Percy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Caleb rated a book liked it Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word by Walter J. Ong	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
good, important idea. surprisingly repetitive with minimal corroborating evidence.
Sep 29, 2026 11:42AM · like · see review
Caleb rated a book liked it Lincoln by Gore Vidal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
i enjoyed this, ending started to drag, but vv worth reading if you want to get a good snapshot of the politics at the time.
Sep 29, 2026 11:42AM · like · see review
Caleb rated a book did not like it The Strange Autobiography of Frank B. Robinson, Founder of the Psychiana Religion by Frank B. Robinson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
kook, charlatan, liar, gifted businessman, narcissist, bad father, whose teachings are loved by everyone excepting people with genuine religious conviction or a spine.
Sep 29, 2026 11:40AM · like · see review
Caleb and 1 other person liked Kara’s status update Kara started reading The Feast
Aug 24, 2026 11:37AM · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Feast by Margaret Kennedy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Feast by Margaret Kennedy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Caleb wants to read Duluth by Gore Vidal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 24, 2026 11:36AM · like
Caleb rated a book really liked it Burr by Gore Vidal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
very good historical fiction
Aug 24, 2026 11:33AM · like · see review
Caleb started reading Lincoln by Gore Vidal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 24, 2026 11:33AM · like
Caleb rated a book really liked it Burr by Gore Vidal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
very good historical fiction
Aug 24, 2026 11:33AM · like · see review
Caleb wants to read Creation by Gore Vidal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 24, 2026 11:32AM · like