Tales of Past and Present

About the Book

Fictions are presented as reflections of life. Seventeen vignettes feature situations in which the protagonists respond to challenges. The scenarios range from the old West, nineteenth century events to more contemporary venues. The personalities represented range from adolescence to old age. The challenges are in love, life and the maintenance of one's dignity and humanity.

About the Author

Henry Tedeschi has a background in science. He has taught at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Medical Center (Chicago) and the State University of New York at Albany. He has written numerous technical articles, several book chapters, a monograph and a textbook in Cell Biology?two printed editions (Academic Press and W.C. Brown) and one edition on the Web. Born in Italy he was sent to boarding school in Switzerland when Mussolini?s racial laws prevented him from attending school in Italy. He spent several formative years in Argentina. He left at age 17 when he immigrated to the U.S. to attend college. He has written fiction and poetry all his life for his own pleasure. He enjoys writing, particularly short stories. He finds writing fiction opens a window into observed details of human behavior, times and places that are otherwise ignored. He has written two mysteries (?One Day at a Time? and ?Double?) and four collections of short stories (?Long and Short Stories?, ?More Long and Short Stories?, ?Three for the Road? and ?Small Steps?). The collection in ?Long and Short Stories? ranges from suspense and mystery to whimsical. They portray a triumph of human values over vicissitudes imposed by situations over which the protagonists have no control. The second collection, More Long and Short Stories, emphasizes the drama and sometimes the comedy of the human condition. Each has a different focus, from the difficulties inherent in encounters between men and women, growing up and aging to the problems of academic life and its frequently unrecognized traumas. ?Three for the Road? contains longer offerings?two are based in New York, one in the 1820s and another in the 1870s. A third is contemporary and takes place in a South American country under the rule of a cruel dictatorship. All three are stories of suspense and adventure. Most recently, he has published ?Small Steps?, a collection of twenty-five short stories, each representing an important event in somebody?s life. Many are about experiences which define a person?s future, as well as the hidden aspects of love.