CEP00000005    An Alienation Almanac – 109 pages


An Alienation Almanac is a collection of short stories that are built up around the theme of alienation, hence the title.  If a psychologist were to put together such an almanac of case studies, it is possible that in a fictional world they might provide some sort of benefit, which is what this collection attempts to do.  Some of the stories were written in 1995, others were begun in 1995 and finished in 1999. 

See sample stories from An Alienation Almanac:

Table of contents:


Introduction: an Alienation Almanac – the background to the almanac, its history, and justification
Deceived by Appearances – the lonely voyage through life of the man who could not die
the Famous Man – the lesson of the conspiracy of the interview with the Japanese existentialist director.
Edged Out – the man’s identity dissolves when people in his life cast him loose and forget him.
Natural Enemies – as the title says: two people who, for whatever reason, must hunt each other down again and again.
Chinese language version of “Natural Enemies”
the Glass of Orange Juice – the glass of orange juice that is never depleted and drunk eternally on an endless night.
What's Your Philosophy? – the man whose waking dream becomes his reality every time he goes to sleep.
No End of Strange Things – the town of political refugees, every person has a dangerous past or is a famous killer.
the Hunter – he is looking for a job; that is all, just a job.  But when they find him, it turns out that the is much more than just a job-hunter…
Chinese language version of “the Hunter”
Epilogue 1- mock epilogue.
Alt X - Part 1: the Various Existences of H___ P____: the rich man who has namesakes and doppelganger all throughout recorded history.
Alt Y - Part II: The Further Adventures of H___ P____ In An Apartment In N   Y: the same character visits his daughter in New York and has literary arguments.  But is she really his daughter?
To Be Continued - Part 1: Contact Metamorphosis: the story of the man who believes that his students are out to get him.
To Be Concluded - Part 1: Void Contact: the story of the man who reads the above story in serial, but believes it is about him.
The Friend in Need – the dying writer visits his suspicious friend with his manuscripts, the friend is forced to understand what he is about to do…
Afternoons in the Paris Café – the café of fictional characters, and the narrator who breaks out of it and into a fantasy world of stereotypical Asian sex-toys
Afternoons in the Cannes Café – the café of fictional characters from film and how they interact in non-reality.
The News is Late – the man who reads about his own death in the paper before it happens, then it happens.
Four Stories: five stories reported with detached precision by the proper authorities
    1. A story strangely familiar – the author is haunted by the passage of “the Telltale Heart” that literally moves about his book, appearing and reappearing,
        until he sets out to trap it.
    2. The narrator reports on the activities of young writers in love and their professional jealousies.
    3. The story that is fatal to its writer – the the various appearances of that story around the world in different languages.
    4. The story of the proxy family.
    5. The story of the story-teller
Thumbnail sketches: ideas for further stories.
 

See sample stories from An Alienation Almanac:

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concepts, writings, titles, and image copyright Peter Hoflich 2000