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Things I Remember
This is a collection of poems and short fiction of 2000 words or less. The poems and stories chronicle the life of the author in dreams and illusions, current events and real people, fantasies and fears, common and uncommon occurrences, and a little bit of wacky surreal fun. Terse writing and simple language combined with symbolism, metaphors, and parody convey deeply layered emotional concerns about life, love, relationships, and the modern world. Though he has been writing nonfiction for many years, this is the author's first collection of fiction.
- GenresPoetry
108 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 2010
266 people want to read
About the author
Gail L. Winfree
4 books48 followersI was born on February 13, 1952, in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating high school, I wandered through life, taking numerous jobs, until finally settling into an assistant engineer job in a Nashville recording studio. When the studio went out of business, I joined the Army and was sent to the Defense Information School where I studied journalism. The training and experience I received in the Army has been invaluable to my writing. As military journalists, we were prepared to go anywhere in the world and use whatever was available to us to get the news out. Writing was simple and clean, no gimmicks, no computer, no Internet, just a pad and pencil, a typewriter, and a 35mm camera. We learned to do it all.
In 1974, I was transferred to Germany where I met Monika, and we married in 1976. I separated from the Army in 1982, stayed in Germany, did some freelance and consulting work, and then took a government job. After a couple of years, I got tired of being a bureaucrat, so I quit my government job and, again, did some freelancing and consulting. I spent 8 years teaching college part-time, 15 years tour guiding part-time, and 6 years working for the Red Cross part-time. During that time, I managed to complete my BA in English, BS in Journalism, and MS in Public Administration.
I wrote and published K-town: A City Guide in 1987. It was the first English language book about Kaiserslautern (a city in southwestern Germany with a large U.S. military population) and sold very well locally. Since the book was a local guide, I self-published it and sold it locally. That was quite a feat in those pre-electronic, pre-digital days. Again, my Army training paid off.
In 1994, I went to work for the USO in Kaiserslautern where I’m currently the tours and marketing manager and publish the monthly USO magazine, Kaiserslautern Kabel, for the English language community here. I also write books
Several years ago, Monika and I bought an old (built in 1875) farm house in a small village in the Palatinate Forest area. We spend a lot of time working on the house and in the garden. We share our home with nine dogs and a farmyard full of cats, hedgehogs, fish, birds, and other assorted creatures that come around for a handout. We’re also active in animal rescue.
I’ve spent most of my life writing nonfiction professionally. Though I’ve always enjoyed poetry and fiction, I never seriously considered publishing my work until Recently.
I published my first book of poetry and short stories, Things I Remember, in 2010; my first novel, Finding What’s Lost, in 2012; and my second novel, The Reality of Being Lovers, in 2013. I’m currently working on a few other writing projects.
Visit me at my website www.winfree-writes.com or on my Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/GailLWinfree.
In 1974, I was transferred to Germany where I met Monika, and we married in 1976. I separated from the Army in 1982, stayed in Germany, did some freelance and consulting work, and then took a government job. After a couple of years, I got tired of being a bureaucrat, so I quit my government job and, again, did some freelancing and consulting. I spent 8 years teaching college part-time, 15 years tour guiding part-time, and 6 years working for the Red Cross part-time. During that time, I managed to complete my BA in English, BS in Journalism, and MS in Public Administration.
I wrote and published K-town: A City Guide in 1987. It was the first English language book about Kaiserslautern (a city in southwestern Germany with a large U.S. military population) and sold very well locally. Since the book was a local guide, I self-published it and sold it locally. That was quite a feat in those pre-electronic, pre-digital days. Again, my Army training paid off.
In 1994, I went to work for the USO in Kaiserslautern where I’m currently the tours and marketing manager and publish the monthly USO magazine, Kaiserslautern Kabel, for the English language community here. I also write books
Several years ago, Monika and I bought an old (built in 1875) farm house in a small village in the Palatinate Forest area. We spend a lot of time working on the house and in the garden. We share our home with nine dogs and a farmyard full of cats, hedgehogs, fish, birds, and other assorted creatures that come around for a handout. We’re also active in animal rescue.
I’ve spent most of my life writing nonfiction professionally. Though I’ve always enjoyed poetry and fiction, I never seriously considered publishing my work until Recently.
I published my first book of poetry and short stories, Things I Remember, in 2010; my first novel, Finding What’s Lost, in 2012; and my second novel, The Reality of Being Lovers, in 2013. I’m currently working on a few other writing projects.
Visit me at my website www.winfree-writes.com or on my Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/GailLWinfree.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2013
"Things I Remember" is a book one wants to be able to enjoy at leisure. It is not only something to be read, it is also something to be absorbed -- maybe together with a glass of good wine. These are not ordinary poems and writings. These are insights hidden in seemingly simple sentences. Only a highly intelligent person with lots of wisdom and life experience can write such poetry. Gail Winfree is such a person. One can safely say he is a philosopher -- mind you, a daring philosopher, who recklessly defies convention. -- Having read this book, I find myself with an extended mind. And I am sure that at some time, with a glass of good wine, to make sure that my mind stays extended, I'll read this book all over.
Adding two chapters of the author's novel "Finding What's Lost" was an unnecessary surplus. Just don't read them. They don't really fit in there. Instead, read the novel. It is also worthwhile reading.
One caveat: The book includes graphic erotic content -- not exactly suitable for your 14-year-old.
Adding two chapters of the author's novel "Finding What's Lost" was an unnecessary surplus. Just don't read them. They don't really fit in there. Instead, read the novel. It is also worthwhile reading.
One caveat: The book includes graphic erotic content -- not exactly suitable for your 14-year-old.
September 2, 2016
It's hard to say what I think about this book. I neither love nor hate it. It leaves me sort of indifferent. The overall style looks like off-the-cuff narrative (although I'm pretty sure it involved a lot of work).
The first part contains several poems and haikus of varying length. Poetry and me were never good company, so I couldn't really made much of it. Furthermore the language barrier keeps me away from appreciating poems in English.
The second part simply entitled "stories" contains short stories, which are indeed very short. I think this form is called flash fiction? Some of these stories are appealing to me, but most I would have liked to be longer.
The final part "Excerpt from a novel in progress" contains five chapterlike (but also short) pieces of the author's novel "Finding What's Lost". For me this is the best part of the book, although it doesn't really belong to it.
All in all I consider this an interesting effort, but not necessarily my cup of tea.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The first part contains several poems and haikus of varying length. Poetry and me were never good company, so I couldn't really made much of it. Furthermore the language barrier keeps me away from appreciating poems in English.
The second part simply entitled "stories" contains short stories, which are indeed very short. I think this form is called flash fiction? Some of these stories are appealing to me, but most I would have liked to be longer.
The final part "Excerpt from a novel in progress" contains five chapterlike (but also short) pieces of the author's novel "Finding What's Lost". For me this is the best part of the book, although it doesn't really belong to it.
All in all I consider this an interesting effort, but not necessarily my cup of tea.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
May 6, 2013
I won this book in the goodreads giveaways.
The Author was even so nice and signed the copy for me.
It has it's moments, there are some really nice poems, it's not cheesy at all, so it's quite nice. Nevertheless and I am very sorry to say, this didn't make it into my fav poetry list. There are also very blunt texts that i couldn't enjoy at all.
The Author was even so nice and signed the copy for me.
It has it's moments, there are some really nice poems, it's not cheesy at all, so it's quite nice. Nevertheless and I am very sorry to say, this didn't make it into my fav poetry list. There are also very blunt texts that i couldn't enjoy at all.
July 4, 2014
This book is a great read!
December 14, 2021
The author describes himself as a ‘wanderer in life,’ worked as an engineer, was in the army - has a BS in journalism and was a part-time teacher for many years… and it surprises me that I’m a bit thrown by his writing…
I can’t help but find myself critiquing his choice of words, the way in which he expresses himself, the shamelessness of it all, carelessness. The first half of the book is poetry:
I want to look you in the eyes, but I only see your ass. I’m sorry if I love you for the wrong reasons.
She’ll carry my soul along with my clothes, And the ten-dollar back-street whore only knows.
the number of times I had to say no ma’am to a woman who didn’t give a damn—just wanted to go bam-bam, wham-wham and didn’t even know the difference between bacon and ham in that place called Vietnam.
Alcohol is often tied into his experiences, influencing his behaviour and the outcomes of situations he finds himself in. A few instances he writes of being drunk and ending his nights with a hooker(s) and it is in the most basic of statements… what he’s chosen to write about doesn’t convey much of a purpose or message for me…
Maybe an older generation could appreciate it more, maybe see a kind of humour in it all?
Some of the Good:
We improve upon ways to kill ourselves while trying to keep ourselves alive even beyond death All in the name of progress and a better future
Somewhere was nowhere when I was there. And I’ve been there a lot.
We are all clichés of who we want to be. And the memories of who we are keep us from being who we can be.
The second half of the book is comprised of short stories/encounters that just didn’t grab me...
I can’t help but find myself critiquing his choice of words, the way in which he expresses himself, the shamelessness of it all, carelessness. The first half of the book is poetry:
I want to look you in the eyes, but I only see your ass. I’m sorry if I love you for the wrong reasons.
She’ll carry my soul along with my clothes, And the ten-dollar back-street whore only knows.
the number of times I had to say no ma’am to a woman who didn’t give a damn—just wanted to go bam-bam, wham-wham and didn’t even know the difference between bacon and ham in that place called Vietnam.
Alcohol is often tied into his experiences, influencing his behaviour and the outcomes of situations he finds himself in. A few instances he writes of being drunk and ending his nights with a hooker(s) and it is in the most basic of statements… what he’s chosen to write about doesn’t convey much of a purpose or message for me…
Maybe an older generation could appreciate it more, maybe see a kind of humour in it all?
Some of the Good:
We improve upon ways to kill ourselves while trying to keep ourselves alive even beyond death All in the name of progress and a better future
Somewhere was nowhere when I was there. And I’ve been there a lot.
We are all clichés of who we want to be. And the memories of who we are keep us from being who we can be.
The second half of the book is comprised of short stories/encounters that just didn’t grab me...
February 2, 2017
Things I Remember
Could not get into this. I only found two poems and one short story I could relate to. All others came across as unfinished thoughts and works.
Not my cup of tea.
Two stars
Could not get into this. I only found two poems and one short story I could relate to. All others came across as unfinished thoughts and works.
Not my cup of tea.
Two stars
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews