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The Oz Suite
Oz - the soil and fertilizer that Gerard Houarner uses to grow three substantial stories. Three amazing studies of how the mind, the imaginary and the real interact. And how they can blur and become fused. They are three very different explorations ranging from apocalyptic vision to psychological odyssey.
152 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2008
6 people want to read
About the author
Gerard Houarner
73 books37 followers“Houarner is a smart, intelligent talent who has a gift for writing with serene beauty about the most atrocious things.” Ed Bryant, Locus
He is also the author of 5 novels and over 300 short stories and novellas, some gathered in 6 collections.
He fell to Earth in the fifties and is a product of the NYC school system and the City College of New York, where he studied writing under Joseph Heller and Joel Oppenheimer and crashed hallucinogenic William Burroughs seminars back in the day.
The mental health field has provided a living as well as inspiration for the past 34 years. His current position might be described as Director of Recovery and Recreation at Arkham Asylum.
Since 1998, he has served as Fiction Editor for Space and Time magazine.
He continues to write whenever he can, mostly at night, about the dark.
He is also the author of 5 novels and over 300 short stories and novellas, some gathered in 6 collections.
He fell to Earth in the fifties and is a product of the NYC school system and the City College of New York, where he studied writing under Joseph Heller and Joel Oppenheimer and crashed hallucinogenic William Burroughs seminars back in the day.
The mental health field has provided a living as well as inspiration for the past 34 years. His current position might be described as Director of Recovery and Recreation at Arkham Asylum.
Since 1998, he has served as Fiction Editor for Space and Time magazine.
He continues to write whenever he can, mostly at night, about the dark.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2009
Three separate novellas linked by their references to The Wizard of Oz (the film). Broadly speaking they can be taken as science fiction, fantasy and horror.
The first, "No We Love No One", tells of pod people who fall to Earth, one child for every adult. "Bring Me the Head of That Little Girl Dorothy" wonders if Oz was the invention of the Wicked Witch, rather than Dorothy. "The Wizard Will See You Now" is about a child who survives a knife attack by his father.
I was a little disappointed that the Oz references are only to the films, rather than the books. It's only in the films, for example, that Oz is implied to be something Dorothy cooks up in her own head. The books make it clear that she really does go there.
The author says in an afterword that he only got through a couple of the books. They can be pretty silly at times, but taken as a whole they present a much richer world than that of the films. It makes sense that the characters in these stories would be more aware of the films than the books, but I felt a bit cheated.
The stories themselves are pretty good, and held my interest well. They didn't dazzle me, and they're not the kind of thing I'd go to the rooftops to shout about, but they kept me reading.
The first, "No We Love No One", tells of pod people who fall to Earth, one child for every adult. "Bring Me the Head of That Little Girl Dorothy" wonders if Oz was the invention of the Wicked Witch, rather than Dorothy. "The Wizard Will See You Now" is about a child who survives a knife attack by his father.
I was a little disappointed that the Oz references are only to the films, rather than the books. It's only in the films, for example, that Oz is implied to be something Dorothy cooks up in her own head. The books make it clear that she really does go there.
The author says in an afterword that he only got through a couple of the books. They can be pretty silly at times, but taken as a whole they present a much richer world than that of the films. It makes sense that the characters in these stories would be more aware of the films than the books, but I felt a bit cheated.
The stories themselves are pretty good, and held my interest well. They didn't dazzle me, and they're not the kind of thing I'd go to the rooftops to shout about, but they kept me reading.
October 10, 2016
Gerard is an incredible author. Having read his other works which I Loved, somehow I stumbled upon this. Immediately I had to purchase it and wasn't disappointed one bit. It's a collection of three shorts inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Each story is unique in it's own beautiful dark way. (Took me a tad in time to read it completely due to other activities in life.) It's is worth your time to read this and enjoy his fantastic writing. I'm not leaving any hints as to what the stories delve into because just like the journey to Oz was a wonderland of new things for Dorothy opening her eyes and mind. You can do the same and follow The Yellow Brick road...
(Now I am wanting to watch the original movie which I haven't seen in decades.)
(Now I am wanting to watch the original movie which I haven't seen in decades.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews