Paul Hawkins: 17 books

Short literary fiction: Set in the 1933 Philippines: a woman yearns for something more from life while her doctor husband longs to make the world a safer, tidier place.

Set in the sub-suburbs, where trailer park and white-flight suburb rub elbows, a young man tries to escape the shadow of his brilliant but despairing father, only to find himself subjected to the same temptations to find the answers to life in a device designed to talk to angels or the dead. Faustian,...

Two young friends are united by a crappy old car, dead-end summer jobs, and the endless desire to escape from tedium into the big wide world. One breaks free and gets the girl; the other gets an empty garage and a valuable lesson. Short story: humor, coming of age, around 8200 words.

Now with four bonus stories! Is man by nature evil, or stupid, or both? These short-short stories (plus seven bonus stories) let you decide. Great short reading for travel, leisure, or any occasion where you need to conscipuously ignore the person next to you. Short-short stories, humor.

When a local kid's TV show personality and his seven trained dachshunds get kicked to the curb in favor of generic PBS programming, the discovery of a hotdog-man suit in a fast food dumpster leads to a new career as a costumed crime fighter (hey, dogs have to eat). And will the lady in his life...

A chimp won in a hand of poker leads to the fulfillment of a man's life-long dream and then unlocks a destiny greater than he could have ever imagined. Humor, around 2000 words.

In the tradition of "Moby Dick," "The Old Man and the Sea" and the great Ali-Foreman bout of 1974 comes a man vs fish story for the 21st century. It's survival of the fittest for George Miller, a down-and-out working stiff who has to beat the odds (and a really big fish) to reclaim his dignity. Short story, humor, around 2000 words.

Nine comic short-shorts deleted at the last moment from "Leaves of Grass" by an alternate timeline Walt Whitman. What was he thinking?!? His loss is your gain. For a limited time only this rare collection can be yours for free! Take that, Nietzsche, you worn-out grumpus. Life is funny. Includes...

Set in the sub-suburbs, where trailer park and white-flight suburb rub elbows, this story rollicks across decades, from the 1980's to the present. An addled man tries to escape the shadow of his genius but despairing father only to find himself subjected to the same grandiose temptations to find...

Recounting 1939, the birth of a superpower, the twilight of a mostly rural America, and the misbegotten adventures of the last man in the world to know everything except what to do with himself. Comedy, romance, and drama unfold when a dissipated millionaire returns from Europe to his childhood home...

Even felt pushed too far? These guys did. Four (plus) comic shorts chronicle the misadventures of average joes who got pushed too far by the system. Mayhem, heroism, and comic vengefulness ensue. Includes: “Middleburg - A Zeppelin-Friendly Community”; “Punchasfish”; “Zoomobile 3000”; and...

A middle aged man must come to grips with his loneliness as a widower while trying to reestablish a relationship with his estranged son. This in the context of his old neighborhood being lost to urban renewal.

A broody suburban girl copes with her recent vampirening. Or is it vampirification? Having bit of fun at the expense of a popular genre.

A story that spans several decades and follows the life of a man in charge of designing state roads whose own life adjusts less smoothly to the pace of cultural and technological change. Humor, pathos. A novella - 27K words.