Wilful Misunderstandings

Book excerpt: A unique concept frames Richard Foreman's ';Wilful Misunderstandings', a collection of short stories from Lepus Books. In each of these thirty-four tales the author takes a word, phrase or saying, twisting it into a new meaning, and by extension a new reality. The stories that emerge extend across a diverse stylistic range through sci-fi, adventure, crime, romance, horror, folk tale and magic realism. The many worlds of ';Wilful Misunderstandings' can be rampantly surrealistic at times, not so very different from our own at others. A ';parapet' becomes a beast assigned as a familiar to would-be mystics. If you go out and ';stretch your legs' you come home taller. ';Accolade' is a drink that gives you a pat on the back. But in each tale, readers will meet engaging characters in intriguing situations - some humorous, some perilous, some with deep emotional resonance.