Bøger af Mike Lubow

When Mike Lubow found himself sliding into his 70s, he recognized it as "memoir country." He assembled a collection of literary memorabilia composed of random moments he'd been jotting down in recent years. True love stories, business hijinks, family oddities, travel adventures, embarrassing moments, irrevocable missteps, philosophical insights and out-of-body journeys called "type travel." All this went into a book called Time Pieces, published in 2016. A book that was well received and even got a nice national review. But that wasn't the end. Additional similar vignettes kept accumulating in Mike's computer until one day he realized he was sitting on "Time Pieces 2," a literal literary sequel. Like the first Time Pieces, this book is intended to be of interest to family, friends, kids and grandkids. But it has plenty of universal appeal, too, with a wider audience in mind. The book can be flipped through like a deck of cards. Pick a piece, any piece. You'll experience a brief moment of Lubow's life, and while there, you'll both have made time stand still.

A collection of ten short stories that have been published in popular and literary magazines in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. One story, though uniquely American, was translated into three other languages. With brevity and momentum each exposes the dramatic interior responses and emotions that occur when we face unanticipated, thought-provoking challenges or insights. There's a story about the effects of a deadly accident on a seemingly self-centered office drone. Another story is about a man, who like the character "Bottom" in Midsummer Night's Dream, accepts the fact that his body changed while he wasn't paying attention. One story dissects a single conversation between a long-time married couple, and reveals that it's anything but a single conversation. Another shows how a loving father, while in his grave, can still hearten his grown son, and help solve a sky-is-falling problem. Another builds to a modern-day civil war when a man from New York provokes a man from Appalachia. There's a claustrophobic wedding adventure. A story about a mountain lion behaving in an unexpected way. And a story about a grizzly bear who serves as a not-so-symbolic stand-in for a bartender gangster with an unsettling surprise. All these stories have been published in magazines the old-fashioned way, on paper, in ink. The author has also published short stories in online literary journals. However, this collection is limited to those that have appeared only in physical form. The magazines where they reside can fill a bookshelf. But, these stories are now collected into this one convenient volume, a celebration of paper and ink and ideas.

A collection of 64 literary tidbits about such diverse subjects as poisonous fish, sex habits of chimps, why dogs like skunks, father-son relationships, silliness of escargot, Teddy Roosevelt's jungle prowess and other odd topics that take a minute to read. Author Mike Lubow learned to condense ideas into 160 words-a minute's worth-as a writer of TV spots. The pieces in this collection, some zany, some profound, all appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

When Mike Lubow found himself sliding into his 70's, he recognized it as "memoir country." So he assembled this collection of literary memorabilia composed of random moments he'd been jotting down in recent years. There are love stories, business hijinks, family oddities, sexy fun, travel adventures, embarrassing moments, irrevocable missteps, scary stories, funny and upbeat ones, out-of-body journeys called "type travel," and philosophical insights. They bounce around in time, unlimited by chronology. "Time Pieces" is intended to be of interest to family, friends and especially kids and grandkids. Maybe it has some universal appeal, too. The book can be flipped through like a deck of cards. Pick a piece, any piece. You'll experience a moment of Lubow's life, and while there, you'll both have made time stand still.

Wild Notes chronicles several year's worth of daily observations written in a logbook style by a regular guy who happens to be a bird watcher, among other things. In the tradition of wilderness junkies like Ed Abbey, Annie Dillard and even that odd old hermit, Thoreau, the author is hooked on the elemental kick that starts with an easy-going interest in birds and goes beyond to an interest in all fleeting things. Bird watching, once considered a gentle hobby, is now known to be a wilderness adventure enjoyed by rough and ready men and women of all ages. Hard-muscled, hard-bitten, bug-bitten explorers who bushwhack trackless wilds. Or ordinary folk who stalk neighborhood nature trails. Whichever kind you are, you're out to find animals that are not only accessible, but entirely wild. They could be avian migrants newly arrived from a South American jungle to spend summer with you. Or winter vagrants that flew across a thousand-mile tundra to visit your neck of the woods. Birds, like uninhibited thoughts, go where they want. From them you can acquire a "life list" of sightings, but you can also get insights that would never have occurred if you hadn't lost yourself in the woods for a bit to stalk things that fly in and out of your life. Throughout "Wild Notes," the date shown on the left page indicates a true moment in time. The right page explains what happened then: what was seen, thought about and what was worth sharing with you.

It is 1987: the "greed is good" era. When anxious ad agency whiz Ben Franklin Green accidentally falls through a wall during a hilarious boardroom presentation, he hops a plane and flies west instead of returning to work. During a nostalgic sojourn in the eucalyptus and marijuana-scented playland of LA's sexy Laurel Canyon, he plans to develop a book with his former mentor about the sham that is the advertising business. But his plans are short-lived as they get news that his mentor's outdoorsy daughter has been kidnapped while working in the Rocky Mountain wilds. Ben, with the sharp creativity of a Madison Avenue idea man, becomes an unlikely detective as he is reluctantly drawn into the case.The brisk, irreverent narrative of The Idea People recalls literary voices of nature-loving writers such as Jim Harrison, Ed Abbey, Rick Bass, James A. McLaughlin, and Charles Frazier. Western-style battles, carnal capers, wild animals, and outlaws present uncharacteristic challenges for the urban, neurotic protagonist. There are love interests, bear encounters, wild horseback rides, a gun belt, an arrow wound, back-country brawls, '80s-style boozing, and an engaging amount of Sherlock Holmes-style ratiocination. Ben's interest in nature, loyalty to his friends, and an uncanny ability to see what others miss, just might allow him to become a rare bird who finds a new life and love in the Wild West.