Quantum Convention, Volume 17 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781574417364)

Winner of the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award for Fiction

Quantum Convention's eight genre-bending stories balance precariously between reality and fantasy, the suburban and the magical, the quotidian and the strange. Caught at a crossroads in his marriage, a high school teacher attends a parallel universe convention, where he meets his multiple selves and explores the alternate paths of life's what-ifs.

The story of Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the Wicked Witch of the West, parallels the coming of age of a cross-dressing boy whose crisis of identity is tied to The Wizard of Oz. Other stories feature characters labeled as "outcasts" by society--whether physically, morally, or fantastically: an alcoholic lucid dreamer, a closeted bisexual, a bachelor time-epileptic, orphans-turned-keeners, a vengeful banshee, a nerdy cyclops, and more. Many struggle to find what Dorothy and her entourage searched for: the wisdom to trust or discount their faith; the ability of the emotionally detached to love; the courage to speak up for oneself; a place to belong.

Author: Eric Schlich
ISBN-10: 1574417363
ISBN-13: 9781574417364
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Language: English
Published: 11/20/2018
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.50d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 10/01/2018 pg. 31
Foreword 10/26/2018
Publishers Weekly 11/05/2018