thrice great hermes

a novel by stanley lieber

184 pgs

5.25" x 8"

print | kindle | pdf

ISBN-10: 1724684744
ISBN-13: 978-1724684745

i.

  1. no one else in town had a phone
  2. the shadow of the water tower concealed nothing
  3. tires crunched on pale gravel
  4. vidya just didn't care
  5. the ridiculous truck destroyed the tree
  6. "fishtailed," explained vidya
  7. vidya ate his snack
  8. he completely forgot about it
  9. atop the water tower there were fewer interruptions
  10. shapes moved in the back of vidya's mind
  11. there would be no further harassment from sl
  12. well, he had seen better mornings
  13. it was unusual for him to climb the water tower this late at night
  14. no school
  15. sorry, i couldn't resist
  16. sl filled in the blanks
  17. vidya tore the page out of his notebook and wadded it into a tight ball
  18. weltstadt
  19. whatever happened to just wearing the mask
  20. no, vidya would not abide being investigated
  21. clothes hangers
  22. vidya remembered grade school
  23. thwack
  24. into the woods
  25. if you have the opportunity, do it
  26. mother had been born here
  27. s.o.m.l.
  28. no radio in the truck was a blessing
  29. whatever, he thought he could hear the ups truck
  30. psychic interference
  31. there were other places
  32. sl was gone
  33. the gateless gate
  34. raymond was concerned for the boy
  35. the next day
  36. the abandoned structure had burned to the ground
  37. vidya lost his job
  38. taking up his assigned seat
  39. vidya wanted a cigarette
  40. all of this gray tracking across his forest like smoke
  41. every so often sl would grow tired of moving slowly
  42. no one would understand about the phone
  43. the abandonment of cruelty
  44. one day your mind may fade
  45. this is my story of what happened

ii.

  1. étienne stood by the window
  2. grandpa died
  3. the best of you is hidden
  4. étienne sank slowly into his bath
  5. internal september
  6. vague
  7. low bandwidth
  8. the film had made some kind of impression
  9. étienne awoke to find he had been transformed into a real human
  10. a surplus had been declared
  11. most of it was automated
  12. form field
  13. nothing could change the fact that he was tired
  14. the gods had pursued étienne from childhood
  15. "not so fast," sl said, sarcastically
  16. disk and executive monitor
  17. étienne had thought he was alone in the central office
  18. everything is true, nothing is deleted
  19. does any part of you want to do this?
  20. quit complaining
  21. étienne pulled up to the railroad crossing
  22. website; webshit
  23. the lions came
  24. both of his parents were dead
  25. do not answer / do not answer / do not answer
  26. it was back to reading
  27. things were not going well
  28. his back still hurt
  29. adding the longbox to his daily carry was not so ludicrous as at first it might seem
  30. start with a blank sheet of paper
  31. he's got (back) issues
  32. sl called, asking for anything related to computers
  33. for some reason étienne's town had a video store
  34. and then there was the house
  35. quartz in the ground

iii.

  1. violet would never forget
  2. hermes woke up in the back of an ambulance
  3. hermes was late for work
  4. spirit of communication
  5. violet was bad with money
  6. the divorce had been sudden
  7. the problem was, it wore off
  8. she could write it all on paper
  9. third system effect
  10. cascade
  11. newton's translation

book 4

  1. the usefulness of dread
  2. beyond section three
  3. say the least
  4. what other people have already said about lines
  5. i don't want to know
  6. i want out
  7. behind the wheel
  8. seriously, karl
  9. ten thousand things wrong
  10. hold
  11. on their way
  12. it takes three
  13. revise and edit
  14. had himself under control
  15. back up
  16. in the community kitchen
  17. apropos of nothing