Selected Tales

by Mykola Dementiuk
edited by Sally Miller

Selected Tales is a collection of seven short stories. Lust, love, fear, humor, tenderness, passion, and pain are all part of Selected Tales. Each story reveals Mykola’s sharp eye for detail and his great insight into the human condition. His love for words is obvious throughout.

If we had to pick our favorite, it would be “The Electric Guy,” which gets into the head of an imaginative man working at an all-girls high school. It’s hilarious, especially when read out loud.

“Kiss Me” shows so perfectly both sides of a teenage boy/girl encounter (could it enlighten even grown-ups?).

“Cosmo Girl” gives us a wonderful peek into a young woman’s view of modern marriage and femininity, and “Drama of a Gifted Child” will surely warm your heart as it did ours.

“Her Kid Sister,” a story of lust and satisfaction, is Mykola’s favorite, and “Dead Joey” reminds us of lessons learned in childhood.

The last story in the book, “Without You I’m Nothing,” is somewhat melancholy, but it so accurately portrays the depression that can come with life change.

None of these stories have the hard edge that other of Mykola’s writings have, but they will make you laugh, and perhaps cry. Certainly they will make you think.

5.5″ x 8.5″ 64 pages, saddle-stitched chapbook
$13 postpaid, or $10 when ordered with any other Synergy Book from Synergy Book Service.

Reviews

As soon as I received SELECTED TALES I read it. Really good writing, and the characters are three-dimensional. I liked them, felt their pain, and their joy. You’ve got another winner here. ~Bob Bahr, Factor Press

“Kiss Me” in Selected Tales had a good, quick, unexpected ending. How a boy has to be the initiator, rather than being passive, and how the flow of real life is quite different than in a fantasy — good concepts written in an understandable way. “Kid Sister” has a good ending. The writing in “Drama of a Gifted Child” is good and straightforward. And boy, I sure could relate to the guy in “Without You I’m Nothing.” Overall I liked the book. ~ Dave Miller, entrepreneur