Fiction. FIELD REPORT begins in affirmation and ends in doubt. Between start and finish there are archaic dictions and near-invented languages, simplistic jokes that a seven-year-old might tell and visions of what might be astonishments. One sentence states: "What wondrous things words"—what, the optimal word here, turns the statement toward a question, one left long unanswered. The twenty stories in this book comprise a field report filed by an anthropologist, providing a concise and complete outline of culture as seen through the tri-lens of sensation, perception and vision. Along the way some pancakes, frogs and gelato get mixed into our favorite pot—or is it plot? One particularly effusive informant offers a wealth of information—passionate in its despair, and the reader might find it—in response—not too late to consider the world presented in FIELD REPORT with a touch of mercy.

Author City: BROOKLYN, NY USA

Dennis Barone is a Professor of English and Director of the American Studies Program at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of Bard College, he received his Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1992 he held the Thomas Jefferson Chair, a distinguished Fulbright lecturing award, in the Netherlands, and in 1997 he received the America Award for fiction. His many books include AMERICA/TRATTABILI (Bordighera Press, 2011), PARALLEL LINES (Shearsman Books, 2011), FIELD REPORT (Quale Press, 2011), NORTH ARROW (Quale Press, 2008), PRECISE MACHINE (Quale Press, 2006), THE WALLS OF CIRCUMSTANCE (Avec Books, 2004), TEMPLE OF THE RAT (Left Hand Books, 2000), THE RETURNS (Sun & Moon Press, 1996) and ON THE BUS: SELECTED STORIES (BlazeVOX [books], 2012).

Reviews and Other Links
author blog