Slight Details & Random Events by Eric Arvin

A collection of short stories from one of today's most talented and challenging new writers. Eric Arvin covers everything from college love to mystical river sprites, from deep tragedy to bawdy sex comedy, in this collection that takes the everyday and finds the adventure within. It's a read sure to keep you guessing.

Cover art and illustrations by HvH (http://hvhexpo.blogspot.com)

 Read one of the short stories.

 Read Reviews

ISBN: 978-0-9801018-0-5
Price: $11.99
Length: 224 Pages
Publication Date: November 15, 2007

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9801018-1-2

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ISBN: 978-0-9801018-1-2

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Reviews

Bay Area Reporter - Reviewed by Jim Piechota

Indiana-based writer and former bodybuilder Eric Arvin's first anthology of short stories combines the sexy and the sublime, along with several thought-provoking pieces and a few interesting bits of poetry and artwork. "Prometheus" showcases Arvin's versatility as a writer by mixing equal parts eroticism and narrative in a smart tale about a man who attempts to free a bearded, naked brute tied to a tree but becomes captivated by his ever-expanding genitalia. From the nosebleed seats at a burlesque show, Marc and his boyfriend enjoy a writhing bodybuilder on stage until a mysterious thin man steals the show in "Camera Phone."

Fully fleshed-out male lovers Cat and Gael appear in a long string of poignant, tender stories that seam together like a novella; some stories are pure melodrama, while others are epistolary, told in a series of e-mails.

Readers won't want to miss Arvin's grand finale of three closing stories featuring a giant, irresistible muscle-head named Gordy. The hilarious yet erotically-charged lampoon of gym culture is seemingly drawn from the author's long days working out alongside a revolving collection of cocky male powerhouses. His main character may be "gorgeous," but he "wasn't too bright," writes Arvin. "That was a muscle stereotype that unfortunately applied to Gordy." The four bodybuilders who seem enthralled with him eventually give in to their most forbidden desires. Whether helping, squatting, or showering, Gordy ("in his tight green shorts") always gets his men in the end.

 

Eric Arvin is without question one of the finest talents in the literary world to come
along in recent memory.  His novels
The Rest Is Illusion and SubSurdity: Vignettes
From Jasper Lane
have created a sensation and gained him a wide fan base.  His
newest release, this anthology titled
Slight Details and Random Events, takes his
readers on a journey into the remarkable products his talent can create.  A series of
short stories based on the characters of Kat and Gael are just fabulous, as is his
Gordy series at the end of the book.  Other delights include
Tater n’ Purgatory and
Deacon Decides.  Mr. Arvin has tackled two vastly different genres with his first
pair of novels, and this anthology will show readers just how limitless his potential
actually is, holding the reader spellbound throughout.  
Slight Details and Random
Events
is a keeper for sure and it’s a welcome addition in this wonderful storyteller's
catalogue.


Grade:
A+

 

by Amos Lassen

 

I am proud to call Eric Arvin my friend which I find particularly interesting since we have never met face to face. Yet I consider him to be someone I have gotten to know and he is one of the new breed of authors writing gay literature that is to be paid attention to. I met him through his dramatically fascinating first book, “The Rest is Illusion” and marveled at his use of the English language, his spirituality and his ability to incorporate the supernatural into his work. His second book “Subsurdity” introduced me to his wry sense of humor which had me laughing aloud. His new book “Slight Dreams & Random Events” shows me an Eric Arvin that can combine the drama of the first book with the humor of the second book and thereby produce a series of connected short stories that peeks into the psyche of the author. Arvin looks at the mundane aspects of everyday living and breathes a sense of adventure into those things we do on a regular basis.


Arvin has a flair for language as well as a technique of letting us into his life through his writing. We see his life spirit through his deftly drawn characters and it appears to me that the stories included in this volume are personal tales which pulls the reader into them and will not let him go until he closes the covers of the book, Even then, the stories reside in the mind.


If there is a unifying theme of “Slight Details & Random Events” it is the quest and the struggle of finding where one fits into the world. What I found especially appealing about the book is that it allowed me to see from where Arvin’s other works come. The short story “Absurdity on Jasper Lane” is obviously the seed that grew into Arvin’s second book and the setting of his first book, Verona College, is here as well. Those supernatural elements of “The Rest is Illusion” couples with the authors spiritual side in several of the tales. Twenty-five short stories make up the book and intermingled with them are five lovely poems and through each of the selections in the book it becomes easier to know the writer.


I have been accused of writing only positive reviews but let me tell you that this is not at all true. I chose not to share negative opinions in print because I believe that every author needs time to find his place on the literary ladder. Eric Arvin, in my opinion, climbed way up that ladder with his debut book and has remained there. He is a welcome addition to our world and if he keeps up the steam and the passion with which he writes. It seems to me that he will be sitting on the top of that ladder for a long time. I am not particularly fond of short stories as I find that I never really get involved because of their brevity of length. This is not at all true here. From the moment that I began to read, I was hooked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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