http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
father of octopus wrestling, and other small fictions
Darkly comic, surreal and full of perceptiveness about human vulnerability and eccentricity, Frankie McMillan's small fictions often duck and dive away from the reader's expectations. With a poet's sense of how single words or phrases ripple out with alternate meanings, and a dramatist's feeling for how apparently small gestures reveal character, and how sudden, cataclysmic change can wrench us out of comfort, routine and unthinking assumptions, the author leaves us ransacking the language for finer genre definitions. This collection teems with both the animal world and a vivid circus of quirky human individuals. The pieces globe-trot all over the planet: from Russia to America to New Zealand; and yet often their piquant wisdom comes from how they bear down into `micro-geography' of intimate relationships: the troughs, peaks, cliff-sides, the warm, still pools of recognition. Frankie McMillan is like a quietly outrageous Zen master, showing us human folly and idiocy, steering us carefully over the dark river of vulnerability that swells under it all. `The Father of Octopus Wrestling, and other small fictions' is an artisan production, designed and printed by Ilam Press, Ilam School of Fine Arts.
The father of octopus wrestling. Seven starts to the man who loved trees -- The father of octopus wrestling -- The honking of ducks -- The bride from Clarry's Vineyard -- How we occupy ourselves -- The geography of a father -- Wrestling with the octopus -- There's no slowing down at Anne Frank's house -- A good match -- Road kill -- The hurry to dress -- The hairy child. Reading the signs -- Cover up -- Keeping Evie Lu quiet -- The hairy child -- When gorillas sleep -- The woman who came in from the cold -- Russian letter 1 -- Russian letter 2 -- The birthday cake -- Father war -- The happy eggs from Podomosky. Hot air -- Master key -- Burning faith -- Born in the year of the horse -- Mr Eat-all -- Salt -- The snake keeper would do whatever you told him to -- The happy eggs from Podomosky -- 'And ye shall have dominion over the beasts of the field' -- Jesus and the ostriches. Jesus and the ostriches -- The man who saved the world gives the teachings of the trolley bus. I call my father Daddy and I know he likes that I do -- Babushkas -- Madame Curie's swans -- The mothers of the mothers of the mothers -- The General wants a new flag -- The man who saved the world gives the teachings of the trolley bus -- The blind heroine -- Big Joe, walking on water -- The hearts of fishes -- After the fishes -- Must have been he wanted the lawnmower to blow up -- The fish my father gave me -- Dirty mouth -- Ways in which I, Elena, never grew up -- One out of the hat -- You are never completely gone. In the end days your father comes to visit -- Deadwood -- Who's in charge around here? -- Man overboard -- You are never completely gone -- The jumping Frenchmen of Maine -- the startle reflex -- Father, mother on the cliff edge -- Are we there yet? -- The story inside her.