It Really Happened

A scrambled mess . . . Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Or--as his brother Detective Joe Dumpty thinks--was he pushed? This case isn't all it's cracked up to be. Suspects are plenty (as are the puns) in this scrambled story of nursery rhyme noir. Was it Little Miss Muffet? There's something not right about her tuffet. Or could it have been Chicken Little, who's always been a little cagey? Or was it the Big Bad Wolf, who's got a rap sheet as long as a moonless night? Joe's on the beat and determined to find the truth. Readers of all ages will delight in the word play and hilarious illustrations in this mystery of what really happened to Humpty Dumpty on that fateful day.

The primary purpose of this project has been to leave a description of middle-class American life as experienced during the second quarter of the 20th century to those in my kinship system who were born decades later. This collection of autobiographical vignettes --for which I plead guilty of enhancing with fictitious dialogue in order to craft a story --provides a literary context for reconstructing the actual events, only segments of which are sequestered in memory. In other words, I am determined that in so doing I am involved as much in explanation as I am in entertaining. I am acutely aware of the fact that in this memoir a greater emphasis has been given to my pre-teen years. This imbalance was provoked by sage counsel to restrict the size of this book. Hence, a number of stories emerging from experiences occurring, and/or endured, throughout my high school and college years --indeed, a number sufficient for more than another book --were pulled from the manuscript, but not deleted from my computer. The dialogue in each story admittedly involves some fabrication. But the persons, the places, and the various features of each historical context are actual and true. Given my subsequent understanding of the personalities of those principally involved in each story, in crafting the scenarios I have not hesitated to propose what I believe might have been an approximation of what may well have been the actual dialogue. Ergo, although each story is not absolutely authentic from beginning to end, with respect to the centering experience in each case, YES, It ALL Actually HAPPENED! B.C.B.

A provocative new interpretation of the Adam and Eve story from an expert in Biblical literature. The Garden of Eden story, one of the most famous narratives in Western history, is typically read as an ancient account of original sin and humanity’s fall from divine grace. In this highly innovative study, Ziony Zevit argues that this is not how ancient Israelites understood the early biblical text. Drawing on such diverse disciplines as biblical studies, geography, archaeology, mythology, anthropology, biology, poetics, law, linguistics, and literary theory, he clarifies the worldview of the ancient Israelite readers during the First Temple period and elucidates what the story likely meant in its original context. Most provocatively, he contends that our ideas about original sin are based upon misconceptions originating in the Second Temple period under the influence of Hellenism. He shows how, for ancient Israelites, the story was really about how humans achieved ethical discernment. He argues further that Adam was not made from dust and that Eve was not made from Adam’s rib. His study unsettles much of what has been taken for granted about the story for more than two millennia—and has far-reaching implications for both literary and theological interpreters. “Classical Hebrew in the hands of Ziony Zevit is like a cello in the hands of a master cellist. He knows all the hidden subtleties of the instrument, and he makes you hear them in this rendition of the profoundly simple story of Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and their Creator in the Garden of Eden. Zevit brings a great deal of other biblical learning to bear in a surprisingly light-hearted book.”―Jack Miles, author of God: A Biography

As a fictional work, this novel is used by the author to describe what could have or may have happened in the events of Hurricane Katrina. Daniel, the main character, is left behind in New Orleans with this three brothers and mother who all live in a poor section of the city. Like many in the Big Easy, his family does not evacuate. In the novel, Daniel appears to be smarter than the rest of his family. During the night before Katrina makes landfall, Daniel has dreams. In these dreams, certain things are revealed to the main character that really frightens him. He believes that the dreams are unreal, but then he finds logic in them. These dreams tell Daniel about his home state and the truth about what really happened in New Orleans and Louisiana. Moreover, throughout the novel, Daniel finds himself afraid of the future and the possible outcome of Katrina. He also comes to realize that certain things in his state are not what they seem. Daniel then finds out certain themes in his home state and is not pleased.

A mysterious woman draws Mike Shayne into a twisted murder plot The call comes just as Mike Shayne is pouring a much-needed cognac. A gangster’s voice warns, “Stay away from Wanda Weatherby.” Simple enough—except that Shayne has never heard of any woman by that name. A few minutes later, he receives another call, from a woman desperately worried about Wanda Weatherby. A third call then comes in from the woman herself: Wanda Weatherby begs Mike Shayne to save her life. He drives to her apartment, hoping that she’ll be able to explain just what is going on, but he’s too late. Wanda Weatherby is dead. Just who she was, and why every criminal in Miami seemed to know her name, will take some figuring out. By the time he’s done with this mystery, Mike Shayne will wish he had never picked up the phone. What Really Happened is the 22nd book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.