Punk Party and Other Accounts of Mischief

by Beedle, David

• ISBN13: 9781098362119
• ISBN10: 109836211X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-03-26
• Publisher: BookBaby

Summary

With a collection of stories that recalls Jean Shepherd along with a dash of Rod Serling and Raymond Chandler, author David Beedle has assembled five tales that mix Christmas, diamond heists, Hollywood, and love, both lost and found.

Set in 1984, "Punk Party" is the coming-of-age story of a man whose coming-of-age should have happened much sooner. His journey weaves together a Chevy Chevette, beer league hockey, a restaurant with a mouse problem, and a girl who is clearly out of his league.

"Bit Player" chronicles a B-level television actor willing to do anything for film glory, and the agent who can make it happen—for the right price.

The short fable, "The Man Who Never Had an Original Idea," is the unfortunate account of a laborer whose foray into storytelling leads to a hilarious, but tragic, result.

And finally, "Johnny Sidney, Police Detective" and "Last Call at the Crusader Lounge." Two stories separated by thirty years, they recount the misfortunes of a one-armed police detective and his faithful partner, and the evil corporation that separates them both from what they care about the most.

The stories here stir a stew of innocence, loss, redemption, and romance—an age-old recipe with just enough new ingredients to keep you turning pages until its satisfying, slightly tear-inducing conclusion. From iconoclastic humor to teary eyed awe, this short story collection is an eclectic cocktail which will reel in readers like a tractor beam!

Author Biography

David Beedle is a writer living in Canada. No, wait—that's Curt Henderson from American Graffiti. Let's start again. David Beedle is a writer living in Pennsylvania. His writing career began in third grade, as a journalist for his one-page newspaper "The Club," which touted the important happenings of his world: summer vacations, wiffle-ball results, kite flying excursions, and exposés regarding hanging out at Herman's Creek. Hailed by his father and a select-few cousins, "The Club" was distributed via mimeograph copy to relatives across the country courtesy of the United States Postal Service and a five cent stamp.

Closer to the actual, current world, Beedle's writing is influenced by a mix of storytellers and artists: The homespun humor of Jean Shepherd and Garrison Keillor, the fiction-born-from-journalism of Cameron Crowe and Tom Wolfe, the gripping prose of Donna Tartt and Shirley Jackson, the unimaginable worlds made real by Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury, and the unforgettable characters that inhabit the vast landscapes created by Larry McMurtry and Stephen King.

"Punk Party and Other Accounts of Mischief" is Beedle's first published book. He is also the author of a science-fiction novel, "Bottleneck," and is the keeper of the blog, "Find Five Seconds," at davidbeedle.com. Beedle leads a second life as a video editor, animator, and motion graphics artist. He is one of five siblings, lives in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, and is lucky enough to have an incredible son, Maximilian, and wife, Laura, without whom he is a much, much lesser man.