My new collection of satirical short stories, titled Loss of Consciousness: Satirical Variations on a Theme, is now available on Amazon (paperback and Kindle editions) and Audible. Check it out! Here is the blurb:
Consciousness. Memory. Identity. Death. Everything and nothing. Loss of Consciousness is a collection of stories that range from gritty dystopian satire to heartwarming fantasy. The author presents a dark vision of a future replete with automation and artificial intelligence, in which humans have committed their lives into the hands of machines, only to have their own consciousness fade. He pokes fun at the modern culture of safetyism, elitist millennial attitudes toward taste, and the ultra-woke’s penchant for finding offense in anything and everything. These stories are guaranteed to captivate, delight, inspire … and disturb.
Here is a list of the stories contained in it:
- “The Meat Grinder” — a metaphorical interpretation of the pressure and incentives at elite prep schools
- “Winner Take All” — a meditation on how those in power rewrite the rules for their own benefit
- “Safe University” — a satirical take on fragility and safetyism on college campuses
- “Woke” — a deeply disturbing portrait of a hyper-woke activist who goes off the deep end
- “In-Q-BrainTM” — an exploration of the metaphysical connections between the brain, consciousness, the senses, and the external world
- “The Jilting of Ogden Weatherford” — a story that raises questions regarding the possibility of uploading one’s consciousness into a computer
- “Loss of Consciousness” — a dystopian look at a future in which humans have committed their lives into the hands of machines, only to have their consciousness fade
- “Taste” — a bitingly hilarious caricaturization of elitist millennial attitudes toward taste and authenticity
- “My Lucky Boy” — a touching story about a father’s love for his son
- “The Window in the Luggage” — an airplane passenger is trapped in a time loop
- “The Judgment of Stan Wellcroft” — a man passes judgment on God
- “When Aliens Find Us” — a piece about one possible embarrassing legacy of humanity
- “To Become a God” — a silly story about a pair of physicists who attempt to use a time machine to become gods
- “A Day for Love” — a dying man gets his wish
- “The Parable of the Artist” — a short inspiring parable related to the arts and creativity
- “A Place in the Sky” — a bit of heartwarming fantasy
Play a Higher Game 