A Short Journey by Car

By Liam Durcan

A cast of characters struggling with forces that perplex and threaten to consume them populate this collection of wildly bizarre short stories. From a smuggling operation to bring oversized toilets banned by the EPA into the United States to a depressed taxi driver lost on Vermont's back roads, and from Stalin's dentist to a child with Down's syndrome exploring the wonders of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, these stories come upon people in the midst of strange upheavals. Reacting with humor, anger, and, often enough, grace, Durcan's blissfully deluded medical research subjects, riot cops, and activists are at once dutiful and vengeful. This energetic collage of styles and subject matter is a sometimes scenic, sometimes exhilarating ride through all walks of life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550651897
• ISBN13: 9781550651898
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Vehicule Press
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Travels by car, a review

The stories presented here are very well written. They draw you in and reveal the characters slowly. They show an interesting paradox, a parallel, or human trait echoing back on itself to reveal a depth of feeling that may be unknown to the people in the stories. Each story is unique, and the style of each is a study in different ways of writing. Some are whimsical, some are lurid and telegraphic, all are lovely. Liam Durcan is a neurologist, and has an interesting way of looking at the people in his stories. It isn't clinical so much as a slow revealing that shows you hiddden things. These stories are very much worth reading. You will feels as if you found a treasure.