The human head is believed to remain in a state of consciousness for one and one-half minutes after decapitation. In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at the rate of 160 words per minute. Inspired by the intersection of these two seemingly unrelated concepts, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler wrote sixty-two stories, each exactly 240 words in length, capturing the flow of thoughts and feelings that go through a person's mind after their head has been severed. The characters are both real and imagined Medusa (beheaded by Perseus, 2000 BC), Anne Boleyn (beheaded at the behest of Henry VIII, 1536), a chicken (beheaded for Sunday dinner, Alabama, 1958), and the author (decapitated, on the job, 2008). Told with the intensity of a poet and the wit of a great storyteller, these final thoughts illuminate and crystallize more about the characters' own lives and the worlds they inhabit than many writers manage to convey in full-length biographies or novels. The stories, which have appeared in literary magazines across the country, are a delightful and intriguing creative feat from one of today's most inventive writers.
Severance
From Where You Dream
Robert Olen Butler
audiobookBibliomysteries Volume 3
Robert Olen Butler, John Harvey, Lisa Unger, Simon Brett
audiobookLate City
Robert Olen Butler
audiobookLate City : The last surviving veteran of WWI revisits his life in this moving story of love and fatherhood from the Pulitzer Prize winner
Robert Olen Butler
bookA Small Hotel
Robert Olen Butler
audiobookParis In the Dark
Robert Olen Butler
bookPerfume River
Robert Olen Butler
bookA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Robert Olen Butler
bookThe Empire of Night
Robert Olen Butler
audiobookbookIntercourse
Robert Olen Butler
bookThe Star of Istanbul
Robert Olen Butler
book
Der Spurenfinder (Spurenfinder, Bd. 1) : Roman | Die neue Fantasy-Krimi-Komödie vom Autor von QualityLand und Die Känguru-Chroniken
Marc-Uwe Kling, Luise Kling, Johanna Kling
audiobookVIEWS : Der neue Spannungsroman vom Autor des Bestsellers »QualityLand«
Marc-Uwe Kling
audiobookNach uns die Pinguine - Ein Weltuntergangskrimi (ungekürzt)
Hannes Stein
audiobookDer Mathelehrer und der Tod - Gregor Horvaths erster Fall - Lehrer Horvath ermittelt, Band 1 (ungekürzt)
Marc Hofmann
audiobookEin pechschwarzes Abenteuer
Juha Vuorinen
audiobookDas Mörderarchiv - Tante Frances dachte immer, dass sie eines Tages umgebracht wird. Sie hatte recht. (Ungekürzte Lesung)
Kristen Perrin
audiobookFrenzel : Kriminalroman
Tommie Goerz
bookKripo Wien : Aus der Bahn geworfen
Herbie User
audiobookDer Donnerstagsmordclub (Die Mordclub-Serie 1)
Richard Osman
audiobookLa porta dalle sette chiavi
Edgar Wallace
bookKopflos am Aasee : Kriminalroman
Christoph Güsken
bookBöses Ende
Sven Stricker
audiobook