Restless Crows: A New Anthology of Related Stories (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798991884051)

Restless Crows is a collection of loosely connected short stories by Stephen Schulz (author of The Maid and Modern Fairy Tales). Described as a mixture of "magical realism" and "black comedy" by some, or "a cross between Vonnegut and Kafka" by others, Schulz breaks genres with this bizarre new anthology. An obvious theme throughout his work is the disintegration of the nuclear family in America, but it is by no means limited to such a boring and overcooked idea. Through the sorcery of his prose, Schulz launches from this basic premise and takes the reader to places no one would ever expect.

Each story from Restless Crows offers magical elements in common with the other stories. Though not a true novel with chapters, there is a subtle thread of continuity between the stories. Such elements eventually become clear to the reader, however there are many clues that lead to deeper layers of meaning, which the reader must detect and discover. Moreover, each story opens with the same two paragraphs, wherein the crows are restless. Crows that have been disturbed skold, a unique guttural squawk, and it is skolding that sets the tone for each story. The contents are a suggested order only, you may read however you like, though there is an intermission that naturally divides the book in two parts.