Approval Preferences

Looking for readers who would read a fantasy novel if they were not tired of an endless re-hash of "Game of Thrones". This is a quick, exciting read but half-way through it the book takes a deep dive into a meditation on faith and how we approach the divine. A passing familiarity with Joyce's" "Ulysses" is a fun addition but not required.

Publisher Profile

stephen tobias

OK, here’s the deal. A large robust crow has found a choice spot hanging around a homeless guy who’s caging handouts by Seattle’s Montlake Bridge. When the homeless guy discards a can of Vienna Sausages, the crow, gluttonous as always, gets his beak caught in the half opened can. Desperate to free himself, the crow begins to bang the can against the cement and the repeated shocks to its head, brings back the shocking realization that he has lived before. Henry has always considered himself a man of deep faith, but it’s not a faith that allows much room for this unanticipated metempsychosis. Both bemused and enchanted by his new corvidian identity, Henry discovers that his life is now filled with experiences and pleasures that he could never have experienced in his former human existence. He resolves to live his new life by being the best crow he can be, but a series of darkly comic events lead him irrevocably back to his last day as a human being and the fatal events that have led to this confounding slip of a cog the drives Karma’s great wheel. Borrowing it’s title from the seminal work by William James, but told as as exciting tale of avian and human miss-adventures; murder, redemption, and forgiveness; “Varieties…” is also a deep meditation on how we view our place in the universe and the mysteries at the heart of all our religious experiences.

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