Music Man

Music Man is a short story about a homless musican in New York City who's about to go on an extraordinary journey. It's the end of the world. It's the the apocalypse narrated by a beat poet named Dikon who can't fit into the world untill the world starts falling apart.

What Lee Curits of Aphelion wrote about Music Man:

"This story has a very attractive quality to it; it uses repeating themes about light, such as:

The red setting sun bleached through the buildings surrounding the intersection like cracked ice under a bed of bourbon.

and:

But the light in the room, there was something about that dim light that brushed against his skin like waves of change, like something was about to happen.

as well as the repeating theme of breaking glass, and it all sets a mood that is poetic and surreal, vaguely threatening but not definable. The contrast of themes suggests danger and hope.

This all produces a very effective but subtle atmosphere, and builds gently to the climax at the end, which I was a little surprised at, but not disappointed with -- at all."

"What makes this short story sooooo sweet is the writing of Bruce Memblatt, a native New Yorker, who paints with every word in perfect place the sensitivity of Dikon. He paints the music, which is hard to do. He paints the streets and the people. He paints the strange journey of Dikon to the end of the story. For those who wonder what it takes to use the notes of music, the ultimate use of words, and combine them into a masterpiece of short fiction, read Music Man. Get a taste of the streets of New York, the people, and the music flowing through the air like a sweet harmony.

I cannot praise Music Man enough. If you have never downloaded a short story before, this is the one to start you off. 'Nuff said. "

-Bruce Blanchard -Amazon