I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Author Charlene Wexler shares a collection of short fiction stories and essays that explore what it means to be human in the book “Elephants in the Room.”
The Synopsis
Elephants In The Room is award-winning author Charlene Wexler’s collection of short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition. Whether she is tackling fiction or essays, Charlene Wexler writes from the heart—with a keen eye for detail and a way of looking at the world a bit sideways.
Elephants In The Room will entertain while it makes you think. In Elephants In The Room, Wexler’s fiction and essays are grouped in five categories.
Coming of Age features essays and fiction about growing up and reaching some of life’s milestones—whether you are ready or not. In Family and Friends, you’ll meet some of the fun characters in Wexler’s life and in her fiction, and inevitably you’ll think about similar loved ones in your own world. The story “Elephants In The Room,” from which the title of this book is derived, appears in this section.
What would life be without our animal pals? Wexler shares some stories about four-footed friends and loved ones in Animal Magnetism. The Passing Parade features Wexler’s fiction and prose observations on the changes in our fast-paced world. Senior Moments contains Wexler’s wry, humorous, and even serious observations on the mature years.
After reading Elephants In The Room, you’ll see why Wexler’s novels and short stories have won multiple awards. Elephants In The Room is a collection of stories that will pluck at your heartstrings and tickle your funnybone.
THE REVIEW
This was a compelling and gripping collection of short stories and essays. The balance the author struck between the memorable fictional storytelling and the honest, in-depth non-fiction work in these essays allowed the reader to be both entertained and engaged on both an emotional and an intellectual level. The author manages to pour enough detail into each story and essay that readers feel immersed and connect with the fictional characters and the real people in the author’s life.
Seeing how the author broke the book into very specific sections helps highlight the powerful themes this collection embodied. Through in-depth exploration of family and friends, the animals in our lives, and even life in our later years, the author touched on the human condition, mortality, and what it means to truly live. This brought true authenticity and heart to each story, an essay the reader devoured in this book.
THE VERDICT
Memorable, insightful, and engaging, author Charlene Wexler’s “Elephants in the Room” is a must-read short story collection as well as a collection of essays. This book offers an authentic exploration of what it means to be human, pairing relatable characters from the author’s fiction with standout memories and moments from the author’s own life, creating a unique reading experience. If you haven’t yet, please be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlene Wexler is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She has worked as a teacher and dental office bookkeeper and as “a wife, mom, and grandmother,” she said. In recent years, Wexler’s lifelong passion for writing has led her to create numerous essays as well as fiction.
She is the author of the books Lori, Murder Across the Ocean, Murder on Skid Row, Milk and Oranges, and Elephants In The Room.
Her work has appeared in several publications, including North Shore Magazine; the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry’s Vision magazine; Alpha Omegan magazine; the book and CD Famous Poets of the Heartland: A Treasury of Beloved Family Poems, Talent, OR: Famous Poets Press, 2014; and the Gazette newspaper of Chicago.
She also has had essays and fiction published on the websites AuthorsDen.com, The Best Short Stories, Cat Stories, Cats and Dogs at Play, End Your Sleep Deprivation.com, Funny Cat Stories, Funny Cats Playing, Funny Passport Stories, How Old is Grandma?, Laughter Is My Medicine, Moral Short Stories-Ethical Tales, One Bright Star.org, Scribd.com, Short Stories for Women, True Cat Stories, and Way Cool Dogs.com.
Wexler’s first novel, Murder on Skid Row, was published in 2010. It is the story of a double-murder on Chicago’s Skid Row in the 1960s. Murder on Skid Row won an international Apex Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts, a writing think tank outside Washington, DC.
Published as an e-book on Smashwords and as a print edition by Central Park Communications in 2012, Milk and Oranges, is a collection of her short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition. Whether she is tackling fiction or essays, Wexler writes from the heart. With a keen eye for detail and a way of looking at the world a bit sidewasy, wexler’s writings in Milk and Oranges entertain while they make you think.
Milk and Oranges received a Bronze Award in the Women’s Issues category of the eLit Book Awards competition sponsored by the publishing services firm Jenkins Group Inc. of Traverse City, MI, and a rare international Grand Award in the Apex Awards competition by Communications Concepts in 2012.
In 2014, Charlene published two novels as e-books on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle: Lori, a family saga spanning several decades, and Murder Across the Ocean, a murder mystery set in England. Murder Across the Ocean also is available from Amazon as a paperback.
In 2016, Amazon Digital Services published her book Elephants In The Room, Charlene’s latest collection of short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition.
Her short story Abracadabra Magic received a “Very Highly Commended” rating in the AuthorsDen.com Tom Howard Prose Contest, 2009.
Wexler is active with the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity, the Authors Marketing Group, the Chicago Writers Association, Children’s Memorial Hospital philanthropy, Lungevity (an organization that fights lung cancer), the McHenry Bicycle Club, the Museum of Science and Industry, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Richmond IL Book Club, the Jewish United Fund, and the University of Illinois Alumni Association.
“I have always used writing as therapy,” Wexler said. “Now I have the time and opportunity to pursue it as a career.”
Her advice for other aspiring writers–even grandmothers like herself–is to “follow your dream. You can do it, and it’s never too late.”
https://www.facebook.com/charlene.wexler
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlene-wexler-0ba88b30
Leave a Reply