By Monday the moon has stopped glowing. One moment it is the singularly most important shape in the nighttime sky and then it is gone…
BULL SPEC is pleased to announce that BULL SPEC BENEFIT SHORT #1 will be Joe Meno’s ”The Architecture of the Moon:”
I first encountered this shimmeringly wonderful short story as one of featherproof books’ free mini-book light reading series, where you can download a well-produced PDF which you can print, fold origami-style, and enjoy. I would offer my thoughts on it, but those of The Story Prize judges do it far better justice than I could:
In lesser hands, these unconventional forms and outlandish leaps of imagination would feel like empty concepts, but Meno fills each of these stories to the brim with heart. There is true emotion hiding behind every trick mirror, and it comes across in spades. As I finished each story, I found myself looking forward to the next, wondering what Meno would surprise me with. But what sets this collection apart, and moved me the most, was that his characters consistently choose hope over despair. Meno brings great skill to every line, and proves, as in his story, ‘The Architecture of the Moon,’ that human connection can be the small light used to illuminate a great darkness.
“The Architecture of the Moon” (and other of Joe’s works) is available in your local and favorite online bookstores and libraries as one of the stories included in his collection “Demons in the Spring,” available in various formats and in various places as described on Joe’s website, a summary being hardcover and Kindle versions at amazon.com, and in audiobook format on Audible.
Joe’s newest novel is The Great Perhaps, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and the winner of the Great Lakes Book Award for Fiction 2009, and which the Chicago Tribune describes as “Laugh-out-loud funny but frequently sad, Joe Meno’s new novel runs the gamut of emotions and techniques as it depicts a Chicago family in turmoil.” It is available wherever quality books are sold.
Note: There will still be an English e-book version of this story, though it would be difficult indeed to improve on featherproof’s in terms of art and origami stylings, we’re hoping some e-book formats made for device and online viewing will help get this story into as many hands as possible.
Look for BULL SPEC’s production of “The Architecture of the Moon” online, in e-book, and audiobook as BULL SPEC BENEFIT SHORT #1 in December, with 100% of donations going to benefit DURHAM LITERACY. Thanks very much to Joe for bravely being the first author to grant BULL SPEC license to produce his work under these terms, and we hope to be able to start contributing to the Durham communities in the way Joe (and featherproof) do to Chicago’s. Another special thanks to featherproof for graciously allowing us to use the cover art from their awesome production of the PDF, credited to Bleached Whale Design.
Update: Due to some scheduling concerns, we may not be able to produce this at the quality level we’d like by December, in which case it would fall back to February. We’ll keep everyone posted. We’d love to see comments on whether people would like to see simultaneous release in all formats/languages, or have these trickle out as they are available.
