Omniphobia: Stories [Hardcover]

Richard H. W. Dillard (Author), R. H. Dillard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1995

Four stories and three novellas, marked by the author's celebrated sense of the sublime and ridiculous aspects of modern life, include the title story, which tells of the terrors that plague an urban writer suffering from writer's block. UP.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The four stories and three novellas in this first collection of short works by novelist, poet and critic Dillard are all strange mixtures of humor and horror. Dillard's writing has an eerie resonance, whether he's describing a short-order cook driven to murder by overexposure to fat people at their feed, or gently spoofing Southern fiction and Southern manners in a story about a boy named Shirley and his girlfriend, Roy. Dillard is particularly adept at cutting close to the bone; he conveys the psychological struggles and emotional stalemates in which his characters find themselves with an accuracy than can make the reader wince. Cotswaldo, the protagonist of "The Bog," is a scientist who studies nature with the ultimate goal of proving that intellect can vanquish instinct. His transparent efforts to convince himself that he is not a creature of instinct?and his disappointment with his fellow humans who so obviously are?creates a feeling of agonizing embarrassment for the misguided naturalist. When Cotswaldo realizes the error of his beliefs, we share his sense of release if not his sense of hope. Similarly, the title story tells of a reclusive writer who lives in a world drastically circumscribed by his fears. Dillard re-creates this nightmarish existence fed by memories and obsessions, but he allows glimmers of real, or more normal, life to shine through, thereby intensifying the impact of the story's tragic ending. Occasionally Dillard goes unpleasantly far in his lack of regard for good taste. Fans of scatological humor will be the best audience for some of his selections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This collection of fiction by Dillard (English, Hollins Coll.) will be best appreciated by fellow academics and students of writing. "The Bog," a satire on academia, is set in a think-tank where our narrator is investigating his belief that human thoughts can control insects. This heavy-handed fable includes professor Sara Band, a classically misogynist creation who has sex with all of her male peers. Better are the stories that qualify as Southern fiction. "The Road" manages to go beyond a parody of Southern themes, becoming a moving story of homecoming and change in its own right. "That's What I Like (About the South)" is great fun, with sections of the story entitled "celebration of eccentricity" and "deep involvement in place." Still, this volume of metafiction will be of little interest to most readers. For academic collections only.?Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press; First edition (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807118397
• ISBN-13: 978-0807118399
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,068,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This collection of stories by R.H.W.Dillard is deligtful!, August 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Omniphobia: Stories (Hardcover)

This collection of stories by R.H.W. Dillard will send you rolling with laughter and sweating in fear. Each page, each paragraph, and each word is a surprise. You will want to read this again and again! I highly recommend this one!