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Reviews: True Map of the City
“The plot is clever and delicately developed, the symbolism is richly layered, and every scene leaves readers asking head-scratching questions. The hyperbolic level of bureaucracy and hypocrisy occasionally comes across as satire, but also has the dark edge of Orwellian fiction.
"Creating such a surreal, vaguely impossible atmosphere in a novel is a challenging task, but Guenther plays masterfully with philosophy and language to achieve a singular mood. The stark, matter-of-fact narration and the intimacy of Horus' inner monologue gives the prose a foreboding sense, while the flashes of humor and ridiculousness give the book an odd balance.
"Guenther fits a whole tangled tale into just over 100 pages, with few wasted words.
"Capped off with a . . . completely unexpected conclusion, A True Map of the City is a truly good read, and Guenther humbly proves himself as a literary descendant of Kafka himself.” --Editor, Self-Publishing Review
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Tag Archives: psychology
BOOK RELEASE: A True Map of the City UPDATE: Now available on Kindle!
Wyzard Hill Press announces the publication of a new book: A True Map of the City, by J Guenther. Horus Blassingame is a loyal, mild-mannered underling at his company. One day, he is called into his supervisor’s office. … Continue reading
The Curious Case of Phineas Gage
In 1848, Phineas Gage was a foreman, efficient, capable, and smart, employed to clear a railroad route through rocky terrain. He and his crew broke up rock formations by drilling holes down into them, filling the holes partway with gunpowder, … Continue reading
Unforsaken reaches ScreenCraft Semifinals
Unforsaken began as a 1500 word short story, Saguaro Flat — 1909, written for the Palos Verdes Library’s 2017 November Writing month. Audience reaction when it was read at the Library in early 2018 inspired me to adapt it for … Continue reading
Silver Dream Sails Again
After a long interval that followed Sail Away on My Silver Dream going out of print, it’s now available again under the Wyzard Hill Press imprint–new cover, new interior, and a few minor changes in the text. I designed this … Continue reading
A More Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy
Yes, that’s our objective of the day: to turn your novel, novella, novelette or short into a hive of scum and villainy. Stories of any length thrive on villains. The more wretched, the better. For without him or her, there … Continue reading
Human Brain. the Ultimate Puzzle
The human brain is probably the most complex system on this planet, the ultimate puzzle. Understanding the brain may help us make sense of some of the strangeness in human behavior. The problem is, we can’t take the brain apart … Continue reading
“Incense Summer”
A Short Story Incense Summer J Guenther Julia doesn’t talk about it, but she still thinks of that summer as “when I learned about incense.” Many things happened between June and September that year at Benison College, but she remembers … Continue reading
Book Review: My Father’s Keeper by Norbert Lebert
My Father’s Keeper (2001) is the story of the children of upper echelon Nazis, the sons and daughters of Himmler, Hess, Goering, and others. German journalists Stephan Lebert and his son Norbert conducted their interviews in 1959 and 2000, respectively. … Continue reading
Book Review: Blitzed, by Norman Ohler
Norman Ohler’s Blitzed is an extensively researched book that provides another view of Hitler’s Germany. Despite Der Fuehrer’s official (and hypocritical) pretence of abstemiousness, he did eat meat, and he did drink, and he did have a mistress. We can … Continue reading