Quintet

It's always a treasure when you come across a book that challenges you and the person you are in the inside. Too often we discuss what we would do in any number of situations but until we are actually in them out emotions can get in the way of making a logical choice.

In the novel Quintet by Hugh Aaron, who is becoming a bit of a close personal friend through his writings, I think people may have overlooked his ability to really dig deep into our souls. Quintet is comprised of five short novellas each with a different theme, I will use Hugh's brief summaries to outline each of them:

1. Doctor Banner's Garden: A retired elderly professor, who life is coming to a close and her female cohort are rejuvenated when three young college student enter their lives.

2. Family Agenda's: A Jewish son is ticked into taking over the family business in a ruse to break up his relationship with a Catholic girl. A story about generational conflict, aging and letting go.

3. Ambition: Deals with racial prejudice in business, the seeking of power and the liberal hypocrisy. Can business overcome black and white prejudice in our greater society?

4. The Ultimate Success: A businessman, well respected in his community commits fraud, bringing disgrace on himself and his family. A tale of destruction.

5. A Son's Father, A Father's Son: A Tale of Two Wars: is about the tragic consequences wrought by war on an American family concerning events during WWII and Vietnam.

Each one of these feels like you are witnessing a deep secret that families don't discuss between their closest friends, and yet you, as the reader have a front seat into some of the darkest moments in their lives. In each one, it really drills you to the core of your personal beliefs and asks the proverbial question, what would you do?

Each of these stories would be great high school or college level recommendations to delve into the reasons why it drives people to do the things they do, whether they want to or not. Some of out selfish greed, hatred, pride and just plain survival. I myself wanted to know what the moral outcome was in each, and I feel satisfied I have found the answers that work for me.

The one story I did connect deeply with was Family Agenda's. Each person in every family has an agenda that they would love to orchestrate and see played out in whatever manner suits them best. For me, I could relate how much the parents were pretty much set in their ways based on what life had dealt them living in the days of the Great Depression, while their children could see the prosperity that comes from working hard and learning from past mistakes. With my own father and I, we are at a stand still in our own conversations about what the agendas are in our lives, and I have made peace with mine.

I did find the story The Ultimate Success, humorous at times and one for this generation who thinks life can be given to them if they know how to obtain it just right. There is always a cost to everything and just what are some willing to give in the pursuit!

These are a great collection of very different subject matters and a true joy to have shared in the experience of just reading and learning from each one. I received this book compliments of Hugh Aaron for my honest review and would highly recommend them to anyone seeking to understand human behavior and why we act the way we do. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars and would caution some of my sensitive readers that some of the stories can be quite disturbing in their content, such as A Son's Father and a Father's Son, dealing with things that happened in the war most won't discuss.

For more information about the book, the author and where to purchase a copy, please click on the links below:

Quintet by Hugh Aaron

You can also follow Hugh Aaron on his blog by clicking here

Stories From A Lifetime

I remember writing stories from the time I was old enough to really appreciate it and even now it's something that calls to me on days from time to time. I still have those in a folder from when I was smart enough to begin saving them and even now, I savor and treasure all of my kids stories. I hope to pass them along when they are old enough to appreciate that I saved them.

Much like my own personal treasury of stories is another man's. That of Hugh Aaron. He's been writing them over the past thirty years, and he even wrote one of them sixty-six years ago while serving overseas in the Southwest Pacific during WWII. Like me, Hugh came across his folder of original manuscripts that cover a wide range of subjects and locales, including some from a child's point of view and even some containing adult themes. Some of the war stories, each concerning a different issue, and written at a different phase of his life, have identical settings. What I like most is how they vary so much from subject matter to subject matter. There are those dealing with business situations that speak about our economy and difficulties in maintaining good business practices, to my all time favorite even though it's the first one in the book, called An Unusual Day in "The Life of George Amen" (Scroll down to read an excerpt).

It's about what happens when someone faces the same thing day after day for so many years. Going to work, providing an income that will pay the bills and keep his family from going hungry. And then out of the blue, one day George Amen doesn't do the usual and in the end finds a very happy moment in his usual life. LOVED this one.

Because there is such a vast difference of short stories, you are bound to find one or more that will not only speak volumes to you as a reader but touch your heart like a true friend would. This is one you won't want to miss out on, and perfect for someone looking for a book that they can pick up and read a little at a time.

I received Stories From A Lifetime by Hugh Aaron compliments of Pump Up Your Book tours and Stones Point Press for my honest review and found a personal journal inside. It's like an undiscovered treasure of great writing just waiting to be unearthed and enjoyed, even talked about and shared. You will LOVE it! This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me and can't wait to see what else Mr. Aaron will be writing! This is available in paperback format.

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Stones Point Press (September 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882521129
• ISBN-13: 978-1882521128
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Price: $ 15.00
  

Here's even more great information about the book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this amazing collection of short stories. Simply click on the link below:

Stories From A Lifetime by Hugh Aaron

Book Summary:

Stories from a Lifetime carries readers through a widely diverse series of life’s peaks and valleys with poignant, clear-eyed vision and understanding that is only gradually gained across the course of a lifetime through endurance and honest appraisal of the emotional rollercoaster that we all ride.

These stories form a welcome, and increasingly rare, honest, grounded, and beautifully written collection that will touch nerves while sympathizing with what it means to be human.

Hugh Aaron delicately reveals the world through the innocent eyes of a young boy, through those of a soldier far from home during wartime, and those of a struggling businessman and faltering husband. He is unafraid to reveal panic beneath a façade of success, the deep and hollow sadness that may exist in an outwardly happy marriage, the yearning we feel to make a break for freedom from the rat race, the unexpected emotional responses that shift lives far beyond the expected course of events.

Read the Excerpt!

AN UNUSUAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF GEORGE AMEN

George Amen awoke at his usual hour of 7:00 a.m.; had his usual breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee; smoked his usual first cigarette of the day; kissed his children and wife good-bye; scanned the state of his lawn as he backed his car out of the garage; and joined the usual morning traffic on his way to work. But George Amen never arrived at his office.

In accordance per his usual habit, he drove to the factory in which he had his office, and at 8:25 a.m. approached the driveway to the parking lot. At 8:26 a.m. he passed the driveway to the parking lot, then passed the entrance to the factory itself, and, without so much as a glance, continued into the countryside. This would not be—it suddenly became clear to George Amen—a usual day.

George Amen had not been aware of his intention either at 7:00 a.m. when he awoke or at 8:25 a.m., one minute before he normally would have turned into the parking lot. He was not in a trance; he was not ill. He knew what he was doing the instant he broke his routine. Although he was not aware why, he knew he had to continue driving into the countryside. He had no destination in mind; he simply had to head out on the open road.

At 10:30 a.m. he returned to his home. The children were at school. His wife had washed the breakfast dishes, made the beds, and had planned to spend the afternoon downtown with a neighbor; she was just preparing to sit down with a cup of coffee and a home decorating magazine when she saw George’s car enter the garage. She did not complete filling her cup, but instead put down the pot of hot coffee on the wooden kitchen table and rushed to the back door.
Accustomed to George’s routine of being away from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., she shouted to him in panic as he came up the walk.

“What’s wrong, George?”
George grinned and waved her back inside. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Are you ill?” she asked as she examined his expression, which seemed quite normal.
“No, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong, absolutely nothing.”
“Then you haven’t been fired or…”
“Don’t be silly. They wouldn’t be that generous.”
George Amen paused for a moment. He stood motionless in the center of the kitchen. His eyes widened and his forehead wrinkled upward. He felt a sensation of surprise.
“So that’s it,” he said.
“What do you mean?” his wife asked.
“I’m not sure.”
George Amen thought nothing was wrong, yet he sensed that everything was wrong. He assured his wife that he felt well, that his spirits were high. Perhaps a little too high, he thought to himself. He was aware of an inexplicable elation.

Author Bio:

Hugh Aaron, a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, received a Liberal Arts degree in the Humanities at The University of Chicago. For three years as a Seabee he served in the South Pacific during WWII. He was CEO of his own plastics manufacturing business for 20 years before selling it to write full time. Several of his short stories have been published in national magazines and 18 of his essays on business management have appeared in The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Business Not as Usual: How to Win Managing a Company through Hard and Easy Times. Currently he’s writing and producing plays.

His latest book is a short story collection, Stories From A Lifetime.

You can visit his website at www.stonespointbooks.com