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Ken Brosky

The Unauthorized Biography of Michele Bachmann (and other stories) Paperback – November 21, 2011

by Ken Brosky (Author)

19 ratings

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A white man lost in Darfur. Phone hackers. Honey thieves. An Iraq War veteran searching for his missing leg in the dead of night. These are just a few of the characters inhabiting Ken Brosky’s first short story collection, which features short stories that have been published in magazines including Gargoyle, Cream City Review, Barcelona Review, Pif, and more. If there's one theme running through all of the stories, it's survival. Every character approaches this theme in a different way. For the couple stuck inside a coffee shop during the Apocalypse, "survival" means getting through the next hour. For the middle-aged man who fears he might be downsized, it means going out on your own terms. How do you survive? Will you?

Reviews:

From phone hackers to an Iraqi searching for his missing leg, these are thought-provoking accounts packed with powerful images. They don't include Brosky's earlier horror writing, but they do provide a virtual feast of emotions that do include horror, humor and observations of the human condition. 'Amazon.com' is the only essay included in this collection of fiction, and provides a fine and unexpected survey of the internet giant. Brosky's short stories always open with a bang: "I knew this guy, babe, he could do things with his mouth you ain't never seen. And I ain't talking about sex here, all right? All right? Get your head out of the gutter and listen to me, because this is a story that's gonna blow your mind." That's part of his special power: imparting scenarios and openings that keep you reading. But the tension and unexpected twists don't end with the opening lines: it is evident throughout the chatty, involving story line: "It all started in the 1960s, when Cap'n Crunch cereal included a free toy whistle in every box. The whistle just so happened to produce a 2600hz tone, which is the exact same tone that AT&T used as a steady signal for unused long-distance lines."

--Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Print length

142 pages
Language

English
Publication date

November 21, 2011
Dimensions

6 x 0.36 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1467974374
ISBN-13

978-1467974370
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brosky's darkly witty stories describe the major and mundane problems facing ordinary Midwesterners ... In the best stories, Brosky exploits this disconnect with a sharp eye for detail and a fine sense of absurdity that's both darkly funny and subtly tragic ..." ~ Kirkus Reviews

"From phone hackers to an Iraqi searching for his missing leg, these are thought-provoking accounts packed with powerful images." ~ SPR

"Brosky's short stories always open with a bang: 'I knew this guy, babe, he could do things with his mouth you ain't never seen.' ... That's part of his special power: imparting scenarios and openings that keep you reading. But the tension and unexpected twists don't end with the opening lines ..." ~ Midwest Book Review

"It took me an afternoon; I couldn't put the book down ... This collection is a tour de force by an author with a powerful, unique style." ~ Writing Sleuth

"Ken Brosky brings to the fore the power of indecision and chaos in a way that forces each narrator to struggle and survive even when circumstances are not as they expect them to be nor as they want them to be. Brosky's prose is clipped at times, weaving stories in very few pages that leave a lasting impression." ~ Savvy Verse & Wit

About the Author

Ken Brosky was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and received his bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He received his MFA from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and currently teaches English at various colleges in the Madison-Milwaukee area. He's currently averaging 3 short story publications per year and wants to keep it that way.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 21, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 142 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1467974374
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1467974370
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.36 x 9 inches

Customer Reviews:
19 ratings

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Ken Brosky

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I received my MFA in fiction writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. I've had over a dozen short stories published, but my main focus now is Young Adult books. My previous series, The Grimm Chronicles, is an award-winning (really!) fantasy adventure series about a hero who must vanquish the monsters of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

My newest series is The Earth-X Chronicles, a YA sci-fi adventure that spans time and space. Alien ghosts, backstabbing clans, and mysterious keepers of knowledge all conspire to make this an entertaining series! I'm so excited about it that I just swallowed my gum!

Customer reviews

5 star		28%
4 star		22%
3 star		23%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		27%

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Meg @ A Bookish Affair

For the Short Story Lover!

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2012

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I'm not usually much into short stories. I think it can be really difficult to tell a great story in a small amount of space and time. I sometimes find myself dissatisfied about what is able told under such constraint. I definitely did not have a problem with that in Brosky's book. He tells good stories quickly.

This book covers a variety of topics and has tons of different characters in each of short stories within this book. The various characters of the book are what really stood out for me. Brosky does a great job of using the limited amount of space that you have in a short story to really draw a good picture for the reader of who the character is and what they are like. This can be incredibly difficult to do in a very small amount of space.

One of the stories that I enjoyed most in this book is Apocalypse Wow. It's literally about the Apocalypse happening and one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse stopping by an indie coffee shop for a bit of coffee (hey, apparently even demons need a cup to get going when they're faced with tough work like ending the world. It's a hard job but someone has to do it).

There's also a hilarious essay about Amazon, the crazy products you can find on it, and the crazy (crazier?) user reviews that struck me as very funny. Have you ever read any of the user reviews for some of the more... uh... off the beaten path products? Pure humor.

Just a warning: if you don't like rough language, this book may not be for you. While the language (in my opinion) is not excessive, it's there and may not be for some readers.

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AvidReader

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2012

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The Unauthorized Biography of Michele Bachmann (and other stories) is an excellent example of the power of the short story form, and I challenge anyone who thinks that short stories aren't as involving as a novel to read these. The stories are gutsy. The writing is brilliant and the similar themes and characters give unity to the collection. This is why I prefer collections to anthologies. No matter how vasty different each story may be, the author's style pervades the work and their voice shines through each story. By the end of the book, the author's perspective has made its mark on you.

I usually read fantasy, but these stories were starkly real. Brosky takes powerful subject matter and treats it with skill and honesty. The stories are more character orientated than action focused, and the internal monologues allow us to go deeply into the characters. Although there are ten different stories, the characters (all men) were very similar in each story. Some might consider this a negative, but I liked it, because it gave me the chance to delve deeply into that kind of headspace.

"The Phreaks" - A fairly light starter to the collection, this is an enjoyable story about phone hackers with different perspectives on what they do. One has an innocent view; the systems are there, let's see if we can play with it. The other's attitude is more spiteful. He wants to bring down the phone company. If you broke it down, you could say it was a kind of good versus evil story. The detail in the information was astounding and I suspect that hours of research must have gone into this story.

"On The Tenth Day, I Kept It Down" - The second story throws us in the deep end with a challenging story about a white man lost in Darfur. He searches refugee camps for a little boy, and all around him are the results of tribal warfare, a high proportion of people living with severed limbs and the smell of burning bodies as yet another village falls to murder, rape, pillaging and burning. The circumstances are shocking and though it's a downer, for me this is the best story, because it throws us into the middle of the moral and emotional dilemmas inherent in the situation, and the author's compassion shines through.

Even though they are likely to be raped by the same men that burned their homes and murdered or mutilated their neighbours, the women in the camps are the ones who go out to collect firewood. Why? Because if the men go, they're likely to be murdered. This is the reality for these people. It engages your heart and provokes you to think deeply. I loved the story as much as I hated that it was true.

"Apocalypse Wow!" - This is a delightful, satirical look at the idea of the Apocalypse and God's relationship to man. It could also have been called the takeaway at the end of the world. Famine rides up on his horse to the drive through for a coffee and tells the workers to stay there because he's coming back for more. So long as they stay indoors they are safe from the horsemen that are destroying the world. The story follows the reactions of the staff to the ending of their world and their conversations with Famine while he's drinking his coffee - he's just doing what God told him to do and doesn't know much about what's going on.

"The Third Pile" + "Deer Tales" + "One in Six" -These three are told by the same narrator, a young man who is trying to work out what to do with his life. There's a bit of fun in these but the undertone is always serious.

"Intermission" - The idea of an intermission was a lot of fun. I really liked just the fact that it was there.

"Amazon.com" - This was different and a lot of fun, a look at how something crazy that may or may not exist can make it big on Amazon's rating system.

"Altered Beast" - I don't remember this one. I'm not sure why. I guess it was the one that interested me the least.

"I Can't Just Turn it Off" - This one is about a veteran who had returned from Iraq without a leg and searches for it in the dead of night.. A wonderfully sensitive and powerful story about how ingrained the experiences of war are in the veterans psyche. Apparently it's based on a true story too, which makes it even more amazing. This, like the second story, is a one that everyone should read, just so you understand what it's like.

"The Unauthorized Biography of Michele Bachmann" - An enjoyable story about an interesting character. I would have liked a little more romance between the main characters and it should probably have a warning sticker for hardline Christians.

"Positivity Squares" -I loved this story about workers at a company who was big on training it's workers to be positive at the same time as they were laying off workers. It was funny and poignant at the same time, the best kind of humour.

I'll end this review with an excerpt from the blurb because it summarises the collection very well.

If there's one theme running through all of the stories, it's survival. Every character approaches this theme in a different way. For the couple stuck inside a coffee shop during the Apocalypse, "survival" means getting through the next hour. For the middle-aged man who fears he might be downsized, it means going out on your own terms.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who appreciates good writing. I give it 5 stars.

One person found this helpful

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D. S. Atkinson

Great Stories, But Pay Attention To The Words The Old Alchemist Tells You To Recite...

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2011

Verified Purchase

I can only say that I wished I had paid more attention to the phrase the old alchemist told me I was supposed to say when I opened this book in my Kindle list. "Clattuu beratta...cough cough cough" was apparently not enough. Bad part, I had to save the world from the armies of the undead. Good part, I at least got a boomstick out of the deal and can now save against poison on the roll of an unmodified ten or higher (twenty-sided die roll). Also, maybe someday I'll make it back to my own time.

Sorry, just wanted to do a little homage to the nonfiction essay that is included with these stories. If you want to know what the hell I'm talking about you'll just have to read. After all, these stories are Brosky at his best. Though all have great description and emotional impact, there is a great deal of variety in this collection. Brosky has a hell of an imagination and it makes for some real gripping reading. I don't think you should necessarily let him babysit your children, or your pets, but I would advise reading his stories. He's definitely not to be missed.

One person found this helpful

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Serena E. Stout

Unauthorized Biography of Michelle Bachmann (and other stories)

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is one of the best short story collections I have read in years. The intermissions included only added to my delight at reading these well crafted tales. Well written and thought provoking. Most of the stories had me wanting to stop and take a breath while allowing my brain/mind time to fully digest the words and emotions before moving on to the next piece in the book. However, that was made difficult as I wanted to keep reading more of these stories. The writing is that good.

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gary

Superb short story telling

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2013

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A wonderful combination of pathos, comedic relief and moral outrage delivered to the reader in exemplary examples of the short story form.

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

Not my usual fare, but I thought the stories were original and well-written. I did enjoy this book and was pleasantly surprised.

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MOki

Could it have been any worse?

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

Oh, it is just terrible. Beginnining with the author's self-important explanation of how and why he wrote every story and downhill from there. Not worth a read. Period.

One person found this helpful

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tiggrie AKA Sarah

Worth 5 stars for one story alone.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2012

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I'm not a big fan of short stories, and this was an "on a whim" purchase when it was free. I finally came to read it some 9 months later.

Most of the stories didn't grab me, so I actually didn't read many of them, although I would say that the quality overall was good. Different voices,some intriguing situations - the author clearly has a lot of imagination. Short stories just aren't my "thing", and although a couple of them seemed intriguing, they didn't manage to reach beyond my antipathy to the form.

I don't usually review a book when I've read this little of it, but the one story I DID read swayed me, as it was so good. "One the tenth day, I kept it down" is both moving and more than a little disturbing. It's well written - I almost didn't want to read it, but I couldn't seem to stop. There's a lot of subtext, and Brosky ably evokes the horrors without ever being too graphic, relying on the human brain to fill in the gaps.

So... I'm not a short story kind of person, but it strikes me that this is a talented author, and a collection that short story aficionados will really enjoy. In short: I'm impressed.

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The Unauthorized Biography of Michele Bachmann (and other stories) Paperback – November 21, 2011

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Ken Brosky

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