More Words, Deeper Hole

Time Found Again

Trapped in a marriage fractured by his self-centered indifference, the protagonist is tempted to use a mysterious ability to visit the past to marry a woman there to whom he feels an affinity, at least for the moment. Happily this proves unnecessary as his wife realizes the secret to true happiness is complete and utter subjugation to her husband.

Huh.

Grief Drives a Black Sedan

A bullying, self-centered man experiences an epiphany about how awful he is as the result of a hit and run he commits while hectoring his wife.

The Celestial Omnibus

A nauseasingly twee story about a young boy with True Faith and his corrupt, jaded mentor having an encounter with Heaven. It doesn't really go all that well for either of them because the people in Heaven are jerks and their buses don't have seat belts.

The Heart of the Man

A discussion of the seeming impossibility of what is now routine heart surgery, in some sections from the POV of the abstract heart.

There's a sad bit where a surgeon argues that heart surgery *has* to be impossible because if it's possible then he let his wife die because he wasn't a good enough doctor.

The Green Hills of Earth

An abrasive spaceman looses his eyesight in an accident his behavior made worse, affording him an entry into the lucrative world of itinerant folk singing.

This is substantially different from the Dimension X/X Minus One version(s). The whole college educated newbie versus illiterate veteran angle is lost, Rhysling is more of a jackass than a space coot, and the scenes set on Venus are gone. As well, Rhysling seems to have had a recording deal before his career ended. In general, the story focuses on the accidents that bookend Rhysling's wandering musician career and not so much on his experiences on the road.

Rhysling seems to be a Jonah; I guess any ship that would have him had to be in rough shape.

Gettysburg

This would have been more timely a few days ago: it is an account of the Battle of Gettysburg, in which the Slavers and their fellow travelers lost an important battle to the United States.

Don't know the battle in detail so I cannot comment on the accuracy.

Housing Problems

A couple reacts to their border's request not to look under the cover of his "birdcage" by looking under the cover of his "birdcage". What they find is a reclusive community of pixies, which they proceed to annoy until that lot of pixies moves out. It gets worse from there.

Yeah, the humans deserve pretty much everything that happens to them. They show a special talent for quick justifications for doing whatever occurs to them at the moment coupled to an inability to learn from experience.

Epitaphs (Spoon River Anthology)

This is a dramatization of Edgar Lee Master's Spoon River Anthology.

The Long Way Home

In post-nuclear war America, rag tag armies drawn from across the world fight over the scraps left by the war. Soldiers find sticking with their buddies on the battlefield more seductive than the pretty young women they meet on the way to those battlefields.

Well, that was a bit of a downer.

The Long Way Home

Nuclear war has smashed most of the world, leaving rag tag armies drawn from across the world to fight over the scraps. One young soldier spins tales about the life he'd like to live with a young woman he has just met but when the chance for a battle comes, he leaves to fight with his fellow soldiers.

Well this was a downer. Not as bad as the one to follow, though.