An anthology of various prose pieces by the award-winning author, John Howard Reid, this collection includes a one-act play, entitled "Two Positives, One Negative", for 5 characters (four men and one woman, although in a performance I saw, one of the men doubled up); a novelette, "My Friend, My Enemy", set in WW2 Egypt (at first it seems the title character is Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, but the author cleverly switches identities for a last-page surprise); "Mind Candy", a Merryll Manning mystery; an essay, "Of Easy Yokes and Light Burdens", in which the author points the finger at modern Pharisees; and a number of short stories on various themes including contest judging (the title story) with which the author has enjoyed obvious experience, and "Wharf Idling" to which he brings a wealth of knowledge drawn from personal observation.

everyone who enjoys cleverly crafted short prose pieces.

"My Friend, My Enemy", but then I'm an ex-Army man and could be prejudiced.

"Settling Accounts". Although it is based on a real incident which I remember well, far too much flak these days is leveled at churchman who are doing their best for the community. In this particular case, the Cardinal's only "crime" was to temporarily transfer money from one account to another without the proper authorization. Banks do this, day in, day out, a million times a week. The Cardinal (like 99.9% of the rest of us) was unaware he was doing anything "wrong" and the whole matter wouldn't have come to light at all were it not for a simple misunderstanding,

is an excellent writer who can move from one genre to another and from one mood to another with admirable ease.

The author is a well-known judge of writing contests, so it's good to know that he can write as well as judge.

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Created Feb 13, 2009 at 5:24am • Submit your own review...