MEN WHO WALK IN DREAMS
A corporate worker abruptly quits his job to make the world’s greatest mozzarella cheese; a widowed Bed and Breakfast owner dishes out advice along with spoonfuls of his deceased wife’s last batch of jam to the suitor who buys a house sight unseen hoping the woman he loves will move in with him. There is the new mother who takes a lover right under her doting husband’s nose, the young boy who flees one dangerous country to start a new life in another, and the transgendered son who discovers his mother’s clairvoyance. The characters in these stories are not afraid to take tremendous risks. From El Salvador to Cape Cod to Antarctica, from a secluded Italian Snake Festival to a packed subway car to a World War II bomber, in this collection of stories men and women cling to ambitions, thwarted love, and misguided assumptions, as they dream to reinvent themselves, seek revenge, foresee the future, recapture that which has escaped their grasp, or merely survive. Fueled by passions and desires, they must choose between illusion and reality despite all repercussions.
REVIEWS
“These stories made me laugh, gasp, tear up, and in one instance, yell, ‘Yes!’ while punching the air. Marisa Labozzetta writes with a sure hand in a confident voice and is even more courageous than her fearless characters as she leads the reader on a journey through the hearts and minds and desires of characters who will not soon be forgotten. I would follow her anywhere.”
—Lesléa Newman author of A Letter to Harvey Milk (short stories) and I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father (dual memoir-in-verse)
“…The eclectic and cleverly nuanced characters, who dwell in Italy, El Salvador, Antarctica, and elsewhere, are recognizable and relatable—flawed and whimsical enough to be interesting without seeming unrealistic or outlandish. Labozzetta’s taut, self-assured storytelling is impressive, as is her ability to compassionately capture the complexities of ordinary lives in throught-provoking ways.
An exquisite set of stories steeped in humor, humanity, and grace.”—Kirkus Reviews
“…From the first page, the author’s meticulous and masterful choice of language makes its presence very clear and offers each scene as a window into the soul or just a perfect description of a dark, snowy day…There is a constant mystique of potential in each selection as if the characters are capable of any imagined outcome, and it makes for an additive and entertaining read to see which possibility becomes final. Artistic, curious, and with an arsenal of emotional gut punches, this is a collection of short stories that belongs in the library of any thoughtful, off-center reader.” RECOMMENDED—US Review of Books