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Variations on a Theme with Harmonica: stories
Award winning author Cheryl Snell brings you five interlocking tales of the way we live now. In these perfectly realized little worlds populated with Barbie dolls, harmonicas, and factoids from science, Snell delivers moments of determination with a palpable presence.
42 pages, Paperback
Published January 18, 2011
About the author
Cheryl Snell
42 books34 followersReviews of my books: http://cherylsnell.blogspot.com
When I married into a Hindu Brahmin family, I began to write seriously as a way to penetrate the protocol of another culture. My novels, Shiva's Arms and Rescuing Ranu explore South Indian life, particularly the stage referred to as samsara.The term haunted me for awhile— samsara--the sibilance of a word that can connote drowning. I had been reading Indian writers—Lahiri, Desai, Divakaruni-- and was drawn to the stories of immigrant families thrashing in their domestic seas. The plight of characters who straddle two continents, the lives they make here, and the families they leave behind, raised the question: when one belongs to two cultures, which part of a divided self goes, and what stays? It's a recurring question in my work.
Besides my novels, I have written eight other books. Most recently, my poetry was chosen by Dorianne Laux for inclusion in the Best of the Net Anthology, and one of my collections of poetry, Prisoner's Dilemma, won the Lopside Press Chapbook Competition. When I'm not writing, I like to cook in the Indian idiom, and I play a mean classical piano.
When I married into a Hindu Brahmin family, I began to write seriously as a way to penetrate the protocol of another culture. My novels, Shiva's Arms and Rescuing Ranu explore South Indian life, particularly the stage referred to as samsara.The term haunted me for awhile— samsara--the sibilance of a word that can connote drowning. I had been reading Indian writers—Lahiri, Desai, Divakaruni-- and was drawn to the stories of immigrant families thrashing in their domestic seas. The plight of characters who straddle two continents, the lives they make here, and the families they leave behind, raised the question: when one belongs to two cultures, which part of a divided self goes, and what stays? It's a recurring question in my work.
Besides my novels, I have written eight other books. Most recently, my poetry was chosen by Dorianne Laux for inclusion in the Best of the Net Anthology, and one of my collections of poetry, Prisoner's Dilemma, won the Lopside Press Chapbook Competition. When I'm not writing, I like to cook in the Indian idiom, and I play a mean classical piano.
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November 24, 2022"Satin Doll." This tale is superbly rendered. Again, those fresh, stunning turns of phrase. The first time I read this, the tearful harmonica player Hank struck me as marvelously absurd, inexplicably sentimental. After a second reading, the truth came clear (I almost regret the truth, preferring non sequitur as a form of high art). The forlorn character Lily is brought vividly to life. And her moments of eventual determination are delivered to us with a palpable presence.
"Wisdom" is a very well-crafted story about time and love's erosion...about the contradictions inherent in monogamy. And of course for me -basically a hobo masquerading as a normal person - it's always interesting to read about the upper crust, about people who have real nice houses and who attend social events. Who wear silk smoking jackets and sapphire necklaces. Who are more interested in novel bed mates than Russian novels. Who are obsessed with illicit carnality, instead of chastely dreaming about an ideal soul-mate.
In conclusion, this book is aces! If you enjoy falling into strange, expertly realized worlds, you will love this little volume.The book's cover painting is by Cheryl's sister Janet. She also contributes a painting for each of the stories. These images are not descriptive, do not illustrate the stories. Rather, they are expressionistic,formally loose gesturings. From them, a mood is evoked that carries over into each story. They are ambiguous, and that is their power." --Tim Buck, Mnemosyne
"Wisdom" is a very well-crafted story about time and love's erosion...about the contradictions inherent in monogamy. And of course for me -basically a hobo masquerading as a normal person - it's always interesting to read about the upper crust, about people who have real nice houses and who attend social events. Who wear silk smoking jackets and sapphire necklaces. Who are more interested in novel bed mates than Russian novels. Who are obsessed with illicit carnality, instead of chastely dreaming about an ideal soul-mate.
In conclusion, this book is aces! If you enjoy falling into strange, expertly realized worlds, you will love this little volume.The book's cover painting is by Cheryl's sister Janet. She also contributes a painting for each of the stories. These images are not descriptive, do not illustrate the stories. Rather, they are expressionistic,formally loose gesturings. From them, a mood is evoked that carries over into each story. They are ambiguous, and that is their power." --Tim Buck, Mnemosyne
Displaying 1 of 1 review