Temping

by Kirby Olson

Temping is about a no-longer-so-young man who is a temporary secretary, then returns to graduate school, and gets a job teaching the theory of humor--in Finland, where he also manages a circus. The book opens in Seattle and encompasses Hong Kong, France and Finland. It has a love story, rivalries between the hero and other academics, religious ecstacy and several attempted murders. Its characters include Finland's saddest poet, an evil dwarf who is both circus performer and a senior Professor of the Comic, and a beautiful, young, blonde acrobat. Temping is a madcap take on the seriousness of life. And it has a happy ending!

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Kirby Olson is Professor of Philosophy, Literature, and Creative Writing at SUNY-Delhi. He studied poetry at Naropa Institute with Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg from 1977 to 1979 and taught English and American Literature at a Finnish university. His poems have been published in First Things, Christianity and Literature, Lutheran Forum, Partisan Review, South Dakota Review, North Dakota Quarterly and Poetry East, among others.