A Review by Don Beukes

Published by IMSPIRED PRESS (UK)

In this immersive,provocative and engaging collection, MITCHELL WALDMAN challenges us to reflect on our own moral compass; through the experiences of the characters and their own personal battles but also situations many of us would rather try to avoid. This is where Waldman succeeds in his ‘creative representation’ of personal relationships, religious views, political alliances and moralistic viewpoints in this fictional canvas of the human condition, no matter who we are or where we are from. Such is the impact of this collection, that we are compelled to individually search and maybe even adjust our moral compass, as a result of the creative representation of humanity in this collection.

Waldman definitely hooked us from the onset with this microcosm of humanity he has created and we certainly wanted to find out what was on offer to feast on.

We experience this in the opening offering ‘Another Fish Story’ amidst a ‘thunderstorm’,

“Woke me last night/it sounded like the house was inside this huge kettle drum/boom/10 million flash bulbs all set off at once”

The author gives us a subtle clue during this description of perhaps what the narrator is thinking, “But this storm brought to mind another storm/one I’d forgotten about until then”. Here, Waldman displays his unique literary process for maximum effect, as we intrinsically search within ourselves all the negative and deeply buried emotional baggage we carry around. This is evidence of the  author’s unique thought process, ensuring that he keeps our attention for as long as possible.

Waldman is quite adept at dealing with pictorial imagery, which he executes with extraordinary panache and confidence, as in

 “The first thing we saw after driving past the tiny sign announcing U-NEED-A-REST

 was a cat throwing up in the grass/Our cabin was tiny, smelled of mildew and creaked with any type of breeze/swarms of of mosquitos feasted on our warm suburban blood”

This is a very confident writer who somehow achieves that ultimate goal of why we as authors write to create an escape from our complex lives only found in books, whether in traditional pages or digital and that is; reaching human emotions no matter who the reader is, which is truly global.

Waldman consistently evokes our reactions, using imagery and at times quite startling moments, which establishes his bravery and at the same time his creative acumen, as in

“then I’d get nervous and yank the hook out pulling his lip, tongue, or guts out with it” as well as,  “And the fish would keep staring at me/his eyes would get duller/Once in a while he’d panic and jump in the air”

Such is the impact of the writing, that we find ourselves continuing reading and that speaks volumes of the writing craft of this author. Waldman continues to hold our undivided attention in this collection and rightly so, as he takes us further on this creative journey; and we gladly and willingly continue to immerse ourselves in the characters and the plots in each story.

Throughout this creative journey, Waldman consistently uses engaging, consistent and effective language to continue to capture our attention, especially to highlight key themes and thought-provoking ideas, not only culturally but certainly universally as well, especially taking into account the global society we are all a part of, whether we want to or not. Such is the creative legacy of this author.

We witness this particularly in ‘Burning House’; 

“ … their red cherry lights piercing the twilight evening sky/I saw faces in the flames/faces of strangers/I thought of relatives of mine/who died in the Holocaust/the flames were licking the sky/swaying dangerously/So you see boys, what foolishness can lead to and finally “…and all we saw was the soaked charred top floor”

Waldman certainly makes an impact on the crafting of his word weaving, as the rest of this collection of stories will demonstrate.

The author is quite capable in keeping us interested by well executed use of language and even creates an expectation of sorts that we will observe a continuous and seamless reading experience, as in ‘The Tree House’,

“Shaky ladder/when it happened/There’d been blood then too/And glass fragments/And rain/floating in the car through the broken windshield/and her face, pale and bloody/her body”

The line, “pale and bloody,her body”, is a striking literary device of assonance that Waldman has elected to demonstrate his literary wisdom and experience, thereby clearly showing his craft as a writer, which demands respect.

Waldman also offers us diverse and thought-provoking themes and references, whoever we are, or whatever our views are regarding a range of themes within this global society.  We witness this in ‘Door to Door’, with engaging dialogue;

“And rebuffs there were. Like the guy in the sleeveless T-Shirt/with a cigarette dangling from his mouth”

This is a clever technique to visualise characters, leaving it up to us to accept or reject a character, whether we like it or not. It continues with,

“An older grandmotherly type who peered through her window/and shook her hand”

These are excellent visual prompts to imagine it and it continues;

“And there was the shirtless rail thin long-haired guy with the John Lennon glasses/who opened the door in a cloud of of smoke/peering out of his half-closed eyes/extending the orange-tipped reefer in his hand saying/wanna hit little one”

The manner in which this story is told could easily resonate with most of us who secretly, suddenly remember that we used to be young a lifetime ago, reminiscing about days gone by and the personal changes we too had to go through, whilst just for a moment or more, depending on the sentimental value of the memory, we allow the memory to linger bittersweet.

As mentioned before, Waldman certainly knows how to hook the reader. We witness this again in ‘Spirits of the Night’ with a striking opening line,

“My dead father isn’t talking to me/That he doesn’t talk to me is odd, since every spirit talks to me/they all do/But for some reason he’s reticent,dumb,mute”

Here, we get a clear understanding of the realistic development of this character and find ourselves drawn into the character’s mindset, especially the revelatory ‘scolding’ directed to the character’s father, 

“No words to explain why he was the asshole he was during his life, unavailable to me”

At this juncture, it becomes clear to us that there are deep emotional and psychological nuances to this character, which the author expertly executes. We either need to hear more; or if it strikes an emotional chord with the reader, feel a need to explore this situation in more detail, such is the gravitas of the author’s creativity. Lastly, this story somehow connects with us on a certain level, managing to make us connect with our own deeply buried memories and personal struggles with the people in our lives, which will resonate with readers, especially the raw and realistic personal battles of the characters in this collection.  This is evident in, 

“He’s fucking silent. Still”

At this point, it is clear that Waldman expertly displays his creative mind to connect with our own memories and struggles with the people in our lives, which will resonate with readers, especially the raw and realistic personal battles we as part of humanity experience.

Waldman consistently steers us towards the essence of his characters, achieving a credible authenticity in the creation of his characters, which he executes with precision and tenacity. We witness this in ‘Usher’,

“He was old, bald-headed/except for little fringes on the sides/A lesson to learn, to follow in life/while the entitled rich kids went along playing/going to their country clubs(which by the way, wouldn’t take my type in)” and “ You should feel lucky at all, alive, in America ( her mother’s brothers and sisters hadn’t been so lucky/hadn’t made it, were never heard from again after the nazis took over Europe and finally,

“Nothing worse than a kiss ass”

It is evident that Waldman employs a myriad of social and political issues within his writing, as a window into the society he dwells in and participates in life’s pulsing 

rhythm. We also witness this in, ‘STOCK BOY’,

“Feeling the eyes of the big bosses on him/Just a glorified Stock Boy”

At times, the author stops us in our tracks with astonishing opening lines, as in ‘A LIFE’

“He had no idea that what he was doing everyday was killing him”

This is such a contemplative opening sentence, destined to register with a multitude of readers in this ‘hum-drum’ life many of us might be living ourselves. References include,

“Driving to work/riding the elevator upstairs to his office/sitting down at his work chair/turning on the computer/reading his work email/ploughing into the daily invoices/John was clearly unhinged off his meds or something”

Waldman sure is able and confident enough to make us somehow nod our heads, without knowing we are doing it. This is an author who is able to tap into life’s daily personal struggles and the mundane lives many of us might be living, without any concerns that he could possibly insult anyone reading this. This is a sure sign of Waldman’s confidence in tapping into our psyche, whether we want him to do this to us or not; and therein lies the success of this author.

In ‘Reaching for the Sky’, we are immediately drawn to the into the psyche of the mother, desperately  trying to hold on to her sanity but most importantly, her son,

“She didn’t know what to think anymore/The question went beyond whether her son meant to rob the man, whether he had been harassing the man on the subway”

Here, Waldman somehow manages to make us feel some of the mother’s anguish and anger, going as far as blaming “God”. We are witnesses to her anger and anxiety,

“No, it went to a larger question of whether there was a God, for how could HE, if he existed, let her son suffer like this, for so long, no matter what he’d done?”

The mother’s lament surely strikes a chord with the ‘audience’, as many mothers, no matter where they are from in this global village, would have similar sentiments regarding a perceived moral decline in their children; and this is a powerful universal social comment to ponder over. Yet, we get a tender reminder that any mother would still give in to their maternal instinct, despite the frustrations and unanswered questions, which is what Waldman achieves successfully in this emotive, existential and moralistic collection; sweeping us along through the emotional journeys of his characters, mirroring a plethora of bruised, damaged and lost souls inhabiting this collection.

Finally, on a religious level, in ‘Honk For Jesus’, Waldman continues to make us reflect and even possibly change our attitudes to life in this ‘global village’ we all live in. Religious views are no exception in this universal narrative. In this offering, the author delves into the mind of a character who has had enough of regurgitating religious dogma; and we witness his initial tolerance and respect for his uninvited ‘guests’ deteriorating into a tirade of deeply seated frustration of strangers attempting to judge others on their personal beliefs or seemingly having no beliefs at all.

“I wasn’t about to take any more shit/Three of them piled out of the front seat/A real clean-cut type,frail-looking guy with blonde hair and not a trace of beard/There was an obese woman with bleached blond hair wearing a white halter and bright yellow shorts”

Here, Waldman challenges us to maybe reflect on our own religious bias but more importantly, making us actually revisit our own similar memories of ‘messengers of God’ and ultimately our own religious journey, whether we believe or not. We also get the sense of much frustration when it comes to religion and this is evident in this narrative.

Waldman does allow the character to give his honest opinion of having no trust in what others have to say about religion and rightly gives the character the opportunity to make his opinions heard,

“But this day I guess I’d have it up to my eyeballs/I’d have enough/I was exhausted, sick from the sun and people/yeah people in general”

At this point, we witness a man having had enough preaching to and being only human, ultimately snaps.

“Listen motherfucker, I don’t want to hear another word/I don’t need any sermons just yet/you understand?

Waldman expertly demonstrated the sheer frustration of religious dogma forced down our throats, leaving us to atone for our own salvation, whether we have any views on the matter or not.

“Well, that’s okay. We’re all brothers under the eyes of the Lord/I noticed the the guy had an expensive looking Seiko, attached to his wrist/It glittered in the sunlight”

‘Religion’, always an awkward theme to conjure up. Yet, Waldman effectively asks us to revisit our own beliefs, which makes this relevant again, as the world we live in is ever changing; and we are constantly bombarded by norms and values either broken or completely shoved in the darker cavities of our minds. Such is the impact of Waldman’s deeper question to humanity in this provocative yet existential collection, which challenges all of us to reflect on our current view of this world, this life we exist in; no matter what state our moral compass is in.

Don Beukes

Author of ‘The Girl in the Stone – The Monte Arabi Collection’

Imspired Press, UK

Published by IMSPIRED PRESS (UK)

In this immersive,provocative and engaging collection, MITCHELL WALDMAN challenges us to reflect on our own moral compass; through the experiences of the characters and their own personal battles but also situations many of us would rather try to avoid. This is where Waldman succeeds in his ‘creative representation’ of personal relationships, religious views, political alliances and moralistic viewpoints in this fictional canvas of the human condition, no matter who we are or where we are from. Such is the impact of this collection, that we are compelled to individually search and maybe even adjust our moral compass, as a result of the creative representation of humanity in this collection.

Waldman definitely hooked us from the onset with this microcosm of humanity he has created and we certainly wanted to find out what was on offer to feast on.

We experience this in the opening offering ‘Another Fish Story’ amidst a ‘thunderstorm’,

“Woke me last night/it sounded like the house was inside this huge kettle drum/boom/10 million flash bulbs all set off at once”

The author gives us a subtle clue during this description of perhaps what the narrator is thinking, “But this storm brought to mind another storm/one I’d forgotten about until then”. Here, Waldman displays his unique literary process for maximum effect, as we intrinsically search within ourselves all the negative and deeply buried emotional baggage we carry around. This is evidence of the  author’s unique thought process, ensuring that he keeps our attention for as long as possible.

Waldman is quite adept at dealing with pictorial imagery, which he executes with extraordinary panache and confidence, as in

 “The first thing we saw after driving past the tiny sign announcing U-NEED-A-REST

 was a cat throwing up in the grass/Our cabin was tiny, smelled of mildew and creaked with any type of breeze/swarms of of mosquitos feasted on our warm suburban blood”

This is a very confident writer who somehow achieves that ultimate goal of why we as authors write to create an escape from our complex lives only found in books, whether in traditional pages or digital and that is; reaching human emotions no matter who the reader is, which is truly global.

Waldman consistently evokes our reactions, using imagery and at times quite startling moments, which establishes his bravery and at the same time his creative acumen, as in

“then I’d get nervous and yank the hook out pulling his lip, tongue, or guts out with it” as well as,  “And the fish would keep staring at me/his eyes would get duller/Once in a while he’d panic and jump in the air”

Such is the impact of the writing, that we find ourselves continuing reading and that speaks volumes of the writing craft of this author. Waldman continues to hold our undivided attention in this collection and rightly so, as he takes us further on this creative journey; and we gladly and willingly continue to immerse ourselves in the characters and the plots in each story.

Throughout this creative journey, Waldman consistently uses engaging, consistent and effective language to continue to capture our attention, especially to highlight key themes and thought-provoking ideas, not only culturally but certainly universally as well, especially taking into account the global society we are all a part of, whether we want to or not. Such is the creative legacy of this author.

We witness this particularly in ‘Burning House’; 

“ … their red cherry lights piercing the twilight evening sky/I saw faces in the flames/faces of strangers/I thought of relatives of mine/who died in the Holocaust/the flames were licking the sky/swaying dangerously/So you see boys, what foolishness can lead to and finally “…and all we saw was the soaked charred top floor”

Waldman certainly makes an impact on the crafting of his word weaving, as the rest of this collection of stories will demonstrate.

The author is quite capable in keeping us interested by well executed use of language and even creates an expectation of sorts that we will observe a continuous and seamless reading experience, as in ‘The Tree House’,

“Shaky ladder/when it happened/There’d been blood then too/And glass fragments/And rain/floating in the car through the broken windshield/and her face, pale and bloody/her body”

The line, “pale and bloody,her body”, is a striking literary device of assonance that Waldman has elected to demonstrate his literary wisdom and experience, thereby clearly showing his craft as a writer, which demands respect.

Waldman also offers us diverse and thought-provoking themes and references, whoever we are, or whatever our views are regarding a range of themes within this global society.  We witness this in ‘Door to Door’, with engaging dialogue;

“And rebuffs there were. Like the guy in the sleeveless T-Shirt/with a cigarette dangling from his mouth”

This is a clever technique to visualise characters, leaving it up to us to accept or reject a character, whether we like it or not. It continues with,

“An older grandmotherly type who peered through her window/and shook her hand”

These are excellent visual prompts to imagine it and it continues;

“And there was the shirtless rail thin long-haired guy with the John Lennon glasses/who opened the door in a cloud of of smoke/peering out of his half-closed eyes/extending the orange-tipped reefer in his hand saying/wanna hit little one”

The manner in which this story is told could easily resonate with most of us who secretly, suddenly remember that we used to be young a lifetime ago, reminiscing about days gone by and the personal changes we too had to go through, whilst just for a moment or more, depending on the sentimental value of the memory, we allow the memory to linger bittersweet.

As mentioned before, Waldman certainly knows how to hook the reader. We witness this again in ‘Spirits of the Night’ with a striking opening line,

“My dead father isn’t talking to me/That he doesn’t talk to me is odd, since every spirit talks to me/they all do/But for some reason he’s reticent,dumb,mute”

Here, we get a clear understanding of the realistic development of this character and find ourselves drawn into the character’s mindset, especially the revelatory ‘scolding’ directed to the character’s father, 

“No words to explain why he was the asshole he was during his life, unavailable to me”

At this juncture, it becomes clear to us that there are deep emotional and psychological nuances to this character, which the author expertly executes. We either need to hear more; or if it strikes an emotional chord with the reader, feel a need to explore this situation in more detail, such is the gravitas of the author’s creativity. Lastly, this story somehow connects with us on a certain level, managing to make us connect with our own deeply buried memories and personal struggles with the people in our lives, which will resonate with readers, especially the raw and realistic personal battles of the characters in this collection.  This is evident in, 

“He’s fucking silent. Still”

At this point, it is clear that Waldman expertly displays his creative mind to connect with our own memories and struggles with the people in our lives, which will resonate with readers, especially the raw and realistic personal battles we as part of humanity experience.

Waldman consistently steers us towards the essence of his characters, achieving a credible authenticity in the creation of his characters, which he executes with precision and tenacity. We witness this in ‘Usher’,

“He was old, bald-headed/except for little fringes on the sides/A lesson to learn, to follow in life/while the entitled rich kids went along playing/going to their country clubs(which by the way, wouldn’t take my type in)” and “ You should feel lucky at all, alive, in America ( her mother’s brothers and sisters hadn’t been so lucky/hadn’t made it, were never heard from again after the nazis took over Europe and finally,

“Nothing worse than a kiss ass”

It is evident that Waldman employs a myriad of social and political issues within his writing, as a window into the society he dwells in and participates in life’s pulsing 

rhythm. We also witness this in, ‘STOCK BOY’,

“Feeling the eyes of the big bosses on him/Just a glorified Stock Boy”

At times, the author stops us in our tracks with astonishing opening lines, as in ‘A LIFE’

“He had no idea that what he was doing everyday was killing him”

This is such a contemplative opening sentence, destined to register with a multitude of readers in this ‘hum-drum’ life many of us might be living ourselves. References include,

“Driving to work/riding the elevator upstairs to his office/sitting down at his work chair/turning on the computer/reading his work email/ploughing into the daily invoices/John was clearly unhinged off his meds or something”

Waldman sure is able and confident enough to make us somehow nod our heads, without knowing we are doing it. This is an author who is able to tap into life’s daily personal struggles and the mundane lives many of us might be living, without any concerns that he could possibly insult anyone reading this. This is a sure sign of Waldman’s confidence in tapping into our psyche, whether we want him to do this to us or not; and therein lies the success of this author.

In ‘Reaching for the Sky’, we are immediately drawn to the into the psyche of the mother, desperately  trying to hold on to her sanity but most importantly, her son,

“She didn’t know what to think anymore/The question went beyond whether her son meant to rob the man, whether he had been harassing the man on the subway”

Here, Waldman somehow manages to make us feel some of the mother’s anguish and anger, going as far as blaming “God”. We are witnesses to her anger and anxiety,

“No, it went to a larger question of whether there was a God, for how could HE, if he existed, let her son suffer like this, for so long, no matter what he’d done?”

The mother’s lament surely strikes a chord with the ‘audience’, as many mothers, no matter where they are from in this global village, would have similar sentiments regarding a perceived moral decline in their children; and this is a powerful universal social comment to ponder over. Yet, we get a tender reminder that any mother would still give in to their maternal instinct, despite the frustrations and unanswered questions, which is what Waldman achieves successfully in this emotive, existential and moralistic collection; sweeping us along through the emotional journeys of his characters, mirroring a plethora of bruised, damaged and lost souls inhabiting this collection.

Finally, on a religious level, in ‘Honk For Jesus’, Waldman continues to make us reflect and even possibly change our attitudes to life in this ‘global village’ we all live in. Religious views are no exception in this universal narrative. In this offering, the author delves into the mind of a character who has had enough of regurgitating religious dogma; and we witness his initial tolerance and respect for his uninvited ‘guests’ deteriorating into a tirade of deeply seated frustration of strangers attempting to judge others on their personal beliefs or seemingly having no beliefs at all.

“I wasn’t about to take any more shit/Three of them piled out of the front seat/A real clean-cut type,frail-looking guy with blonde hair and not a trace of beard/There was an obese woman with bleached blond hair wearing a white halter and bright yellow shorts”

Here, Waldman challenges us to maybe reflect on our own religious bias but more importantly, making us actually revisit our own similar memories of ‘messengers of God’ and ultimately our own religious journey, whether we believe or not. We also get the sense of much frustration when it comes to religion and this is evident in this narrative.

Waldman does allow the character to give his honest opinion of having no trust in what others have to say about religion and rightly gives the character the opportunity to make his opinions heard,

“But this day I guess I’d have it up to my eyeballs/I’d have enough/I was exhausted, sick from the sun and people/yeah people in general”

At this point, we witness a man having had enough preaching to and being only human, ultimately snaps.

“Listen motherfucker, I don’t want to hear another word/I don’t need any sermons just yet/you understand?

Waldman expertly demonstrated the sheer frustration of religious dogma forced down our throats, leaving us to atone for our own salvation, whether we have any views on the matter or not.

“Well, that’s okay. We’re all brothers under the eyes of the Lord/I noticed the the guy had an expensive looking Seiko, attached to his wrist/It glittered in the sunlight”

‘Religion’, always an awkward theme to conjure up. Yet, Waldman effectively asks us to revisit our own beliefs, which makes this relevant again, as the world we live in is ever changing; and we are constantly bombarded by norms and values either broken or completely shoved in the darker cavities of our minds. Such is the impact of Waldman’s deeper question to humanity in this provocative yet existential collection, which challenges all of us to reflect on our current view of this world, this life we exist in; no matter what state our moral compass is in.

Don Beukes

Author of ‘The Girl in the Stone – The Monte Arabi Collection’

Imspired Press, UK