Posterboy for Planned Parenthood and Other Stories by Steve Sloane is a collection of twenty-five stories that all stand up separately and aggregately create an autobiography. Highlighted short stories include: The title story,
Posterboy for "Planned Parenthood"
honors the author's mother, who was the director of Planned Parenthood and built the first legal abortion clinics following Rowe vs Wade. This and
"Campaign for the Environment"
demonstrate the power of social activism.
"Pretty Boy",
about a lonely, widowed grandfather and the love he shares with a parakeet, develops into a violent, haunting story of his family, which is more dysfunctional than most. It time travels through three generations with their pet birds, turtles, and dog, all marked for vicious conflict. It's a meditation on the essence of love and violence.
"Earline"
is the story of a teen-aged African American maid, who comes north and deals with racism. It is an indelible portrait of respect, justice, and dignity.
"Highschool Confidential"
is a coming-of-age story with a gender-bending twist that will likely leave you chuckling at a red-hot teenage love affair viewed in retrospect forty years after. Enjoy
"Unconfirmed Jew"
wherein the author marries into the mob.
"Nobody's Fool"
is a situation comedy on-site with Mafia hoods in the Bronx and back in the author's Manhattan sales office, reporting to his father and sassy secretary. And from beginning to end, there is a series of camp stories that transport you to the Adirondack Mountains. A place where: bees attack in swarms, horses go berserk, and counselors abuse children.
Overall, the author's emotional resilience and insouciant sense of humor will get you through the terror and pain of the stories; This coupled with vivid real-to-life dialog brings all of the characters to life. Colorfully woven throughout the book's fabric, there are spell-binding stories about alternative health and spiritual stories about life, death, and eternity. It is all authentic and priceless.