A “Grunt” is the unhappy sound found in these short stories confronting a disquieting reality. “Grunts” include:
· “The Best Waiter in America” is a snarky look at high-end restaurants that lie in wait for diners who wander through the door seeking a meal.
· “When Comes the Angel of Comfort” follows the day-long search of one person to be comfortable.
· “Roadkill
Meditation” is a story-length poem that uses the senseless death of a cat on a rural highway to reflect on the inability of the living
to recognize the tenuous nature of life.
· “Dreams” contrasts those dreams, or what is seen in the mind, which are experienced
while awake with those dreams experienced while asleep.
· “The Amazing Messner Twins” presents an arbitrator who is hired to
resolve a dispute and who decides to “split the baby”, literally.
· “Common Sense” shows the consequences when the conclusions
of science contradict people’s common sense understanding.
· “Leaving” reflects on the end of life in the experience of an immigrant
who came to the U.S. as an infant and is being deported to a country where he has no ties.