Review: Wonderful and touching collection
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 8, 2011
When I saw that the author of this book was looking for reviews I practically pounced on it. I've been craving something more from the heart and less about the fantasy and mass appeal, and this fit that perfectly. This is a unique collection of short stories, artwork and poetry by ordinary people whose voices might never have been heard by others.I find that premise to be wonderful and oddly sad. It's easy to forget that their are ordinary people out there capable of creating wonderful things and yet the world may never see them simply because they are 'ordinary'. It makes you wonder about the others around you, is the guy you see everyday on the way to work actually a poet? Is the woman in the business suit actually an artist? It's a beautiful and startling thought, and this book really made me see that.The short stories were all well written and more then a few of them were very touching. The first story nearly had me in tears and I had just started reading 5 mins before, I'm not a crier when it comes to books so I say that speaks volumes. Many of the other stories had me fighting back tears as well, and few others evoked several other emotions and memories of mine. The artwork was simply stunning and even some that while not traditionally considered 'beautiful' art that were striking in a personal way. The poetry hit home on all aspects and you can truly feel the emotions that these people felt when they put pen to paper. A few of these stories and poems will definitely stick with me for a while.The best thing about this collection is that anyone can relate to it in some way. It touches all emotional subjects, everything for depression to love to disgust. It's by no means a high quality piece of work as there are a few format issues, but that simply doesn't matter once you start reading, it becomes more then just a book it becomes a voice for all of these people. A type of release that many of us need.I completely recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetry and short stories. The aforementioned format issues are not terrible and do not effect your reading, and if not for my slight OCD I probably wouldn't have even noticed. So don't let that detere you. This is a wonderful and inspiring collection.