Cringe

Here are 10 stories written by first-time author Gilbert Cheron. Gilbert provides us with a host of personalities who have one thing in common the pain and joy that is the human condition.

His stories cover the full spectrum of human emotions with the main focus being the bitter-sweet experience of unfulfilled hopes, aspirations never quite realised and simply coping with whatever life chooses to place upon you. Gilbert also explores the less visible and less obvious things that nonetheless leave a lasting impression, those that result in loneliness or rejection, as in Missing Persons, The Set Up and Writer's Block.

But there's also the humour that is essential in the lives of every one of us, as well as the just plain mundane routine of everyday life like that explored in Saturday's Ritual. But don't think this book carries a message of despair: the message is one of hope!

The stories describe the journeys of several people through life's unexpected and unsettling phases: journeys which ultimately lead to the discovery that there is indeed a place for everyone in this world, even those who exist on the fringes of society as in Small Time Crooks, Her Problem and My Only Child. Through many of the stories is an undercurrent examination of modern western society, particularly the influence of the media, sport and technology on our lives; laced with a gentle satirical bite much in the manner of a poor man's Fellini or Raymond Chandler.

The formality of capital "l" literature won't be found here; what you will find is an informal, fresh and deliberately ragged style perfectly suited to the urgency and relevance of the message Gilbert has to deliver.