My Many Kisses and Other Short Stories features 20 highly entertaining vignettes of people who have decided to change their lives and then go out and do so. Dolphin, whose body of work is always about potential, gives us characters who, for the most part, understand that wisdom opens many doors. We meet a miner who has decided to become a mystic, a man who understands that his constant failures are really successes when the bigger picture is observed, a wandering poet whose goal is to have enough money to pay for his meals and enough talent to entertain his friends and others.
There are great life lessons in these pages, but they never overwhelm the stories themselves. Dolphin proves himself a true master of the craft of short-story writing, giving us real characters and pacing their plots so that they tell us precisely what we need to know and no more. In this way the stories are swift and compelling, meaningful and memorable — and, ultimately, universal.
“…the author recreates the authentic mood and the tone of the time he describes. There’s an amazing energy that rises right off of the pages…a series of mini-biographies….” — Georgia Jones-Davis, Southwest Book View
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Why this book matters
- 20 vivid, swift vignettes about people who decide to change their lives and actually do it
- Characters drawn with precision and warmth: mystics, wandering poets, quiet philosophers finding success in apparent failure
- Life lessons woven seamlessly into story. Never preachy, always earned
- Praised for its authentic energy and mini-biographical depth by Southwest Book View
- A master class in short-story craft from one of Synergetic Press’s most distinctive literary voices
