Beyond the Wall of Sleep

By R. Andrew Heidel and Aamna Qureshi

Beyond the Wall of Sleep collects 10 years' worth of short prose and poetry by Andy Heidel, a young Brooklynite apparently influenced by the introspective fantasies of Ray Bradbury and Neil Gaiman.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966522400
• ISBN13: 9780966522402
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Now Mortco
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

A Few Nights Beyond the Wall

.... Beyond the Wall of Sleep is a collection of shortstories like no other. The stories begin normally enough. A characteris introduced, a question or philosphy or thread of a plot is offered,and then a crashing blow; a sudden unexpected abrupt ending occurs,leaving all that's been set up unanswered. It has a magicaleffect. Like in life, you ask, and the answers that come are oftenuntranslatable, or never come at all. These stories are deeplypersonal, but while offering that window, they also become a bit of amirror.Personal favorites are "The God Makers", aremarkable story that will surely be collected in a"greatest" collection somewhere in the future. "The GodMakers" offers up the logical birth of animism on the one hand,and a simple story of a prehistoric fisherman on the other. "TheVoice" alludes to Poe's "Raven", quite intentionally, Ibelieve, except the speaker of the voice, unlike the raven, issomething/someone more collective. It's the "boo" in thenight we've all heard at some point.The last quarter of the book ispoetry, and poetry is hard. It's hard to read, and much harder towrite. On the reading team for this one, I found R. Andrew Heidel'spoetry delightful. On the ones that didn't work for me, I just smiledand read on to the next one. For the ones that did work for me, I readthem over and over in my head - because I've memorized most of them bynow. "Piss", "Pin", and "Over Tea withIngrid" -- sweet and funny and scary - just not in thatorder. Over all, a collection well worth reading.

Brilliant work

Talk about baring one's soul in a variety of literary styles and genres. This is exactly what R. Andrew Heidel has done. In the nine short stories, readers glimpse inside the heart and mind of a surrealist soul. The poetry is simplistic but beautiful as the optimistic author pleads with himself and his readers to fill oneself up with life, love, and joy. Weird? Yes! Strange? Yes! Eerie? Yes! Well-written? Absolutely! Mr. Heidel takes his audience on a ride to the center of the heart and soul of humanity. Though The prose is a well written, interesting, and entertaining parable, it is clearly not intended for everyone, only soul-seekers. Readers need to realize that the characters such as the female incarnation of Death (not the comic book character) star in these brilliant short stories. The poetry is also enlightening as the author takes the reader into an introspective glimpse of the essence of being human. Anyone interested in something different will enjoy this special collection.

Beautiful, lyrical and touching

As if we are the reader in the town Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Heidel's stories wake us softly, with the gentleness of the spirit and wisdom that can only belong to a genuinely talented writer. His voice may very well become the conciousness of our generation, describing the anxieties, troubles and the search we find ourselves in at the dawn of a new millenium. Whether through poetry or short stories, his understanding of the human condition is so evident that one only hopes to read another work of his soon so that we may continue to examine ourselves and grow through his writing. Such insight is to be treasured. Thank you R. Andrew Heidel.

6 quite different stories showing the author's depth & range

I'ts always so exicting to come upon an Author's first book! Mr. Heidel's 6 stories go from mythos to pathos in the blink of an eye. my favorites "An interview with God" (what's he really like?) And "Dead Drunk" (how far would you go for your dying wife???) I hope this is the first of many books for Mr. Heidel BRAVO!!!

Wonderfully rich and absorbing collection.

Highly recommend for fans of Neil Gaiman, Graham Joyce, and Tim Powers. Well written short stories and emotionally driven poetry that strikes at the human core. Can't wait to see what this new writer comes up with next!