Christopher G Bremicker: 9 books

A novella about a death while duck hunting and stories about a high stakes golf game, a love affair with a car, a death by drowning, a dating service with no second dates, a road trip gone badly, an extreme skier, a parachuting injury, fishing on the Mississippi River, the world's greatest handball player, my romantic escapades, and others, are inspiring, humorous, and heart-breaking

Stories that were prayers in the disguise of essays. They included country clubs, sailboats, airplanes, literature, and tuning my skis. I knew both sides of life, from men's clubs to psych wards. After a while, they became indistinguishable. Somewhere along the way, life became, "What the Hell?" This was a chronicle of going from Purgatory to Heaven on earth.

A description of love, physical and emotional. I described people I loved, such as relatives, close friends, and old flames. I included a wedding, a terrorist attack on a fast food restaurant, and a bash for high school classmates who turned seventy. There is a lengthy description of old flames.

From the laxative effects of diet green tea, a church luncheon, to a play about the Irish Civil War, this book pulls no punches. From creative nonfiction, like coats I owned but could not afford, science fiction, like time travel to the origin of the universe, and fiction, like a bus date where a sober couple relapse, this book is outlandish. Three stories about race are food for thought.

How life looked after I was out of the abyss. People took off their gloves and treated me roughly. I had to remember where I came from, where I was going, and how I got here. I was the product of hundreds of medical people, handball games, skiing, fishing, and duck hunting trips, books, A.A., family, and friends.

Taverns, hunting, fishing, downhill skiing, and each other made our lives bearable in northern Wisconsin. We tended bar, waited tables, pounded nails, or cleaned other people's houses to "keep the wolf away from the door." Life was rich as we gossiped and looked out for each other. When someone was in trouble, we gathered around them.

From a boyhood of flying in my father's airplane, summers at a cabin in northern Minnesota, to Special Forces basic training, this book covers a wide range of recollections. A fictionalized account of my father's death on a hunting trip in Canada, a small church's influence on my life, and an idyllic childhood of friends and family are part of these novels to be read in one sitting.

A novel of intrigue and drama in public housing. Characters abounded, as Shannon, a new resident, threw lavish parties and became popular. The treasurer and secretary of the resident council got jealous. They refused to sign the checks to pay for the parties. Shannon fought back with her Irish temper. They won the battle. Shannon rose again then died of a massive heart attack.

I developed a love interest in two women who didn't know each other. One was eccentric, from a poor background. The other was a rich girl who came on hard times. Both were feminists, mercurial, and difficult to handle. One was untamed. The other had three husbands. Their allure equaled their poverty. Both were artists, who knew themselves well. I had my hands full.