Description

Funny, surreal, and original—this is humor with heart…burn.

Welcome to the warped mind of Richard Bell. Ninety-plus vignettes will make you laugh, hurt, think, maybe wonder where he comes up with this stuff. The common theme is life seemed good, then the bad thing happened. We deal with it, or we don't, and life changes.

Each story stands alone, but together they paint a picture of life in the Mystee Forest, a not-so-faraway place. The stories are woven with trivia, movie nods, and literary quotes—Easter eggs for those who love to look deeper. Some have layered metaphors and symbolic storytelling; some anti-humor. Characters range from conscious potatoes to extraterrestrials, zombies to disobedient children, porcupines to a romantic firefly reenactment of the French Revolution, and the author's misadventures with tinfoil headgear and laser beams. Even Santa gets weird.

Bell began writing in 2004 as a therapeutic outlet to process his wife's life-threatening illness and their concurrent job loss. What began as short stories of characters in worse situations evolved into a collection now dedicated to anyone who's supported someone through a serious illness or simply navigated the ups and downs of life, anchored in the belief that laughter is good medicine.

One reviewer called it "shockingly amazing."

A portion of his proceeds go to cancer research.