This team-written work is a rollicking and sometimes nostalgic comedy about coming-of-age in the golden era of the early Nineteen Sixties in America. A 'Navy brat, ' known only as 'the boy, ' arrives at Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia, from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1961. Joining the staff of The Maury News, the school newspaper, as a photographer, the boy works his way up to editor-in-chief as he meets his classmates through a wide variety of school sports, extra-curricular activities and clubs while progressing toward graduation in 1963. He develops special friendships with three male classmates, a dozen-odd female characters and his expanding school newspaper staff against a backdrop of the changing South, the Cold War and the vibrant world of ubiquitous music, especially Rock 'n' Roll. The narrative is interspersed with recollections by the authors, many of them former staff members of the newspaper (hence The Maury Nonesuch title). The specters of Commodore Maury, the Goddess of Ouija, a symbolic Leviathan and an obscure mathematician stir the lively plot and provide a mock-serious commentary wrap as the boy orchestrates his friends' slapstick struggle to find dates for the senior prom. All things resolve well in the end, thanks to the false premise that the boy is "the world's best kisser." Memories abound: old-fashioned Southern hospitality and morality, Sandbridge, sailing, crab cakes, rare steaks on the beach under the stars, the naughty Hot Nuts Band and several others. Readers can write their own cherished memories on blank pages. The lead writer and editor of The Maury Nonesuch, Wilson F. Engel, III, Ph.D., was formerly the editor of The Maury News. He now lives in Arizona and writes fiction and poetry. Special thanks among those who share the copyright go to his MHS '63 Classmates Shirley Grissom and Wayne Martin.
Larissa Quinn travels directly from Miss Simmons' Seminary to the wilds of Westmoreland to care for her elderly aunt. After the day-long journey, the only place for the weary travelers to sleep is the barn of an over-booked inn with only a single vacancy. Larissa, who has no intention of sleeping on a pile of straw, steps forward, claiming to be newly wed to Sir Randall Trent, baronet and unwitting accomplice in Larissa's scheme for adventure, in order to claim the last empty room. Convinced they will never see one another again and that no one will be the wiser about their little white lie, Larissa and Sir Randall part ways, though not before Sir Randall can bestow upon Larissa a passionate kiss that sends her reeling. Both are surprised to be thrown together again so soon in London for the Season. When their secret is discovered, Larissa and Sir Randall are forced to band together in the face of a crime spree in which Sir Randall is implicated. Life is about to offer Larissa an adventure unlike any she had ever imagined.
The short stories captured on these pages are snippets of a well-lived life. I gathered information like a thief through the years and then one lovely and sunny day, I put pen to paper, filled my mouth with ink and spat it all on paper. What fun I had with these, my precious little stories. I have a Blue Million more to write.
This collection is a generous selection of Shirley Jackson's work, consisting of three complete books: The Bird's Nest, Life Among the Savages, Raising Demons, and eleven short stories--including the world-famous "The Lottery.
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