John Manderino: 7 books

On a job application, there's that tricky question: reason for leaving? John Manderino's answers are collected here in this hilarious novel tracing the history of a guy trying to grow up job by job. Delivery boy, altar boy, busboy, teacher, cotton picker, umpire, Zen monk—Manderino's protagonist tries on one hat after another.

In this comic, witty memoir, John Manderino shows us how the pivotal points of his life have been enmeshed with movie moments. "Crying at Movies" presents thirty-eight succinct chapters, each bearing the title of a film. It is at once a love-letter to an art form and a humorous appreciation of the distinctions between movie scenes and life's realities.

It’s Saturday, october 27, 1962, the darkest day of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Two children, Ralph and his little sister Lou, are searching for empty bottles in a vacant lot when they discover a rock which—to them, at least—looks quite a lot like Jesus. Ralph immediately declares it a Possible...

This is the funny, poignant story of two brothers growing up in the early '60s. Manderino lightly approaches the underside of the middle American family in a tumultuous period of history.

This collection of twenty-six dark but often humorous short stories features a pantheon of disturbed and disturbing characters, human and otherwise. Many of the stories are modern takes on classic monsters crafted with twisted plots and Twilight Zone-esque endings. For example, "Wolfman and Janice"...

At forty, Hank has decided he's through with baseball—a routine pop-up fell on his head and he got the message. Trouble is, baseball is the one thing that's given any meaning to his life. This is the painfully funny story of a man who decides to get a life, but isn't sure how. It's about fathers...

Protecting the environment is often not the primary objective of businesses. As the world has become more environmentally aware, the necessity of environmental regulations becomes apparent. Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Policy Perspective examines different approaches to environmental protection...