About the book
You’ve probably heard about the man Dick Cheney shot, but what if he wasn’t the only one?
Ian Davis is a loner; obsessive compulsive, and a recovering alcoholic. But when a homeless man – who resembles actor Gary Busey – starts harassing him, he resorts to dangerous old habits.
Kenny, a former sitcom star, is a veteran comedian whose career nose-dives after a damaging video goes viral.
In these eighteen stories we also meet: a distraught husband who experiences heartbreak and salvation after a texting teenager changes his life; a man who returns to his hometown to find his first love stacking jars in Costco; a western sheriff who confronts a pedophile, and his own past; and a successful attorney who abandons his career to play the iPad guitar.
Unexpected, humorous, sometimes dark, and surprisingly heartfelt, these award-winning tales explore the secret life of men as they pass into adulthood, middle age, and old age, confronting lust, pain, guilt, bewilderment, and mortality. The collection fearlessly distills for the reader tinctures of joy, pain, madness, heartbreak, greed, and other components of the human capacity for good and evil, for beauty and ugliness. O'Leary showcases humanity in a fluent, fun read, which will let you peek into the most intimate and the well familiar entrails of existence. Few books around these days possess the capability to bring both a tear to your eye and smile to your lips, within the span of a few chapters, such as this work does.
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-0998087207
Publication Date: February 16, 2017
Ian Davis is a loner; obsessive compulsive, and a recovering alcoholic. But when a homeless man – who resembles actor Gary Busey – starts harassing him, he resorts to dangerous old habits.
Kenny, a former sitcom star, is a veteran comedian whose career nose-dives after a damaging video goes viral.
In these eighteen stories we also meet: a distraught husband who experiences heartbreak and salvation after a texting teenager changes his life; a man who returns to his hometown to find his first love stacking jars in Costco; a western sheriff who confronts a pedophile, and his own past; and a successful attorney who abandons his career to play the iPad guitar.
Unexpected, humorous, sometimes dark, and surprisingly heartfelt, these award-winning tales explore the secret life of men as they pass into adulthood, middle age, and old age, confronting lust, pain, guilt, bewilderment, and mortality. The collection fearlessly distills for the reader tinctures of joy, pain, madness, heartbreak, greed, and other components of the human capacity for good and evil, for beauty and ugliness. O'Leary showcases humanity in a fluent, fun read, which will let you peek into the most intimate and the well familiar entrails of existence. Few books around these days possess the capability to bring both a tear to your eye and smile to your lips, within the span of a few chapters, such as this work does.
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-0998087207
Publication Date: February 16, 2017
About the Author
Timothy O’Leary is a current nominee for a Pushcart Prize and winner of the 2015 Aestas award, as well as a finalist for various others. His work has been published in magazines such as Talking River, The Fredericksburg Literary Review, and Pooled Ink. He was born in Billings, MT, received his MFA from Pacific University, and today resides in the Columbia Gorge, near Portland, OR. He is an active and prolific author, blogger, entrepreneur and gentlemen farmer.
His latest book Dick Cheney Shot Me in the Face is set to release on February 16, 2017. Preorders are now available. You can also shamefull preorder it on Amazon, if you must.
His latest book Dick Cheney Shot Me in the Face is set to release on February 16, 2017. Preorders are now available. You can also shamefull preorder it on Amazon, if you must.
Where To Buy
Reviews
This is a great collection for fans of absurdist humor. O’Leary’s stories hold a funhouse mirror up to our careening world of violent men, empty-headed women, beleaguered kids, gamblers, frauds, charlatans, megalomaniacs, nerds, white trash, victimized minorities, addicts, gimps, pedophiles, and sons of bitches. This is a comic version of America that might as well be true. But these stories also have moments of poignancy where characters drop their defenses and see the world, if only momentarily, in a different way. They grant others their indulgences and smile to think of what could’ve been. I’d recommended these energetic stories for fans of the Coen Brothers, George Saunders, David Sedaris, and even Irvine Welsh. -- Andrew Watson
I thoroughly enjoyed every story - even the darker ones. The character construction was compelling enough that I read all the stories in a few sittings. Tim is a great writer in a genre I am particularly fond of. -- Tom Fauntleroy
A fabulous read. Short stories to make you laugh, think and ruminate on the slightly insane world in which we live. TIm O'Leary has a style and voice that make this book race by....you want more and more. I look forward to his next effort. -- Milton Stewart
O’Leary overturns the rocks of everyday human existence to reveal the humor and sadness of life. His stories often left me feeling a mix of empathy and revulsion for his characters. Cheney & Other Tales - like Japanese fugu - should be taken in small doses, especially if gritty language offends you. However, the experience is worth the risk. -- Darrell Williams
In the opening and title story of his riveting collection, Timothy O’Leary returns fire, blasting the S.O.B. Cheney with true facts spun out by a fictional victim in a most entertaining way. As with all of the stories, O’Leary’s exuberant, fast-paced style bobs us down rivers of his savvy takes on the cultures, fun, fears, and realities of our time.
“One Star” gets into the heads and hearts of a struggling immigrant restaurant family and struggling, married, U.S. born customers disappointed by a declined Groupon. A drunken Yelp-like review exposes a cleavage too often exploited by politicians and leading to consequences both sides regret.
A has-been sitcom actor was content with his life of booze and pussy as a travelling stand-up comic until he is blind-sided by an up-and-coming talent using the technology and tools of today in “Hecklers.”
A widower who avoided cell phones and blames them for the death of his wife takes another look at his departed wife and the phone’s benefits when the neighbor boy shows him a video of her at her best in “The Tower.”
Each story in this collection is a gem of thought, language and craft. Some are funny, some are darkly funny (e.g., “Adolph’s [Hitler] Return”), and others are dramatic. All are superbly entertaining. Together, they process and contextualize the world around us from the perspective of someone who has been paying attention for the past four decades.
Personally, I finish about one in every nine books I begin. I finished this one in no time. My biggest criticism is that I wish there were even more than eighteen stories. -- Jeff Merrick