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“Squeaks, Grunts, and Howls” is a collection of short works, some a little over a page and others over a hundred pages, that do not follow a coherent theme such as “Forces of Nature” or “Jabs”. Like those works, “Squeaks, Grunts, and Howls” offers a take on each subject from its own unique perspective. But, unlike those earlier works, these writings are organized by the intensity of the voice in each piece.

A “Squeak” is the short but sharp sound of these general observations or comments not in the form of a story. “Squeaks” include:

· “The Chapel Organ” contrasts the positive message from music with the negative message from religion.

· “Einstein and the Purpose of Life” utilizes the relation between time, space, and the speed of light found in Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity to address an age-old question: what is the purpose of life.

· “Traveling to the Moon” is a short meditation on the place of people and their ambitions within the larger Universe.

· “Thinking Bowels” challenges the famous statement of Descartes, “I think, therefore I am”, by asking whether thoughts originate in the mind, the act of a self-aware individual, or originate biologically elsewhere in the body and then enter consciousness.

· “Suicide Hotline” presents an unexpected way for a local suicide hotline to save a life.

· “Nazis at the Beach” sets the brightness of a young family innocently enjoying a day at the main beach of Asunción, Paraguay against the darkness of four ex-Nazis at the same beach reminiscing about their glory days of killing in Ukraine and Poland and hatching a plan to kill again.

Exploring ideas through fiction