Nuggets

In this aptly titled collection of short stories, the author offers his personal observations on the human condition as well as the "nuggets" of precious wisdom the reader might extract from them. The settings of these stories are varied and range from a cabin in the freezing northlands to a baronial palazzo. In compelling scenes of betrayal, despair, murderous rage, hallucination, and violence, the moral of these tales is implicit: humanity has lost its way, and Eden appears to be out of reach. Redemption beckons, however, in the form of love and acceptance and without limitations of age. While the emotional tenor of many of the stories is dark and forbidding, it is counterbalanced by the sheer joy of the stories that celebrate young love, belated love, and the good will of rescuers and Samaritans. Eden emerges triumphant in this collection through the author's belief that while humanity creates its own brand of evil, it is also capable of engendering its own "miracles."