Family Reunion

Availability:
Ebook in EPUB format. Available for immediate download after we receive your order

DRM:
Watermark

Publication Year:
2015

ISBN-13: 9781453292976

<DIV>Bob Otis, an unmarketable author who is just starting his own publishing company in order to get his latest novels in print, is abruptly sidetracked when a relative, so distant that Otis doesn&rsquo;t even place him, phones from Chicago with a request: his father, who has just died, wishes to be buried in the family plot in a small town in Georgia.<BR /> &#160;<BR /> This call leads to another wonderful comedy of manners as Otis, whose Southern sense of obligations won&rsquo;t permit him to totally avoid this undertaking, is reluctantly sucked into a family reunion at the burial site: a burial attended by a cast of wonderfully eccentric characters who also have no knowledge of the deceased.<BR /> &#160;<BR /> This novella is a direct descendant of Fleming&rsquo;s earlier comic novels: <I>Colonel Effingham&rsquo;s Raid</I>, <I>Lucinderella</I>, and <I>Captain Bennett&rsquo;s Folly</I>. Indeed, many of the zany, colorful, and irreverent characters of <I>Lucinderella</I> and <I>Captain Bennett</I> make their reappearances here, as does his fictional town of Fredericksville.<BR /> &#160;<BR /> In many ways, this novel is reminiscent of Federico Fellini&rsquo;s film classic <I>8 1/2</I>, where the Italian director is surrounded by the characters in his life and in his films. Fleming (who was also forced to self-publish his books during his decades of anonymity) brings to life his roots and his creations with a fine mixture of satire, reflection, and nostalgia.<BR /> &#160;<BR /> In addition to <I>Family Reunion</I> are some fine examples of the author&rsquo;s gift for short fiction: pieces that touch the heart, the funny bone, and the imagination.<BR /></DIV>