Michael Hofmeister

Below the Surface Michael Hofmeister

Below the Surface is a collection of short stories which explores a variety of styles and genres over the course of its eight tales. From the second person point-of-view Kafkaesque narrative of "Mall City" to the first person comedy of "At War with the Bees"; from the third-person science-fiction of "Lady in White" to the multi-narrated satire of "Ebner Boobihatch's Theory About the End of the World" each story firmly establishes its characters not necessarily by detailed descriptions of their appearance, but by dialogue, actions, and setting, which ultimately serves as an experiment in how creative a reader's imagination can be without the aid of lengthy descriptions. In the first story, Under the Rialto, the reader is invited to come along for a ride, to jump into the story head first, without reservations, just to see what happens. Serving as a short-but-sweet introduction, we are left wondering whether or not the narrator is a genuine storyteller or a gifted salesman. Either way, he makes us feel as though we're about to go on a journey, and that the ride may in fact be worth the read.