Bücher von Conrad Bishop

A melange of micro-fictions, from one to four pages each. Bonsai stories. Haiku novels. Flash epics. A fledgling Boy Scout is jammed in mud. A woman, two strikes down, opens the door to new love. A stairway goes up and up and up. Howdy Doody is roasted on a griddle. An elderly couple becomes famous, for no reason whatsoever. A small child boards a toy train. A man tries desperately to get to sleep; another, on the way to an urgent appointment, climbs upward and upward and upward. A woman wakes up happy and can't shake it. Hell comes to the suburbs. A VISIT TO LIFE is a mix of the comic and grim, a surreal soup in the kitchen sink, a speedway of speed bumps. It all comes in a mix, like life. So these pieces don't reflect a consistent point of view, or if they do, the POV is vastly diverse. Life is horrible, life is sweet. Life is stark nuts, life is just what it is. Life is definitely worth a visit. With his mate Elizabeth Fuller, Conrad Bishop has written 40+ plays, hundreds of sketches, andsix novels. His plays have been staged Off-Broadway, in regional theatres, and in thousands of their own tour showings in 38 states. He is twice winner of writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

A diverse melange of micro-fictions, from 4.80 to 950 wordseach. Lives in miniature. Bonsai novels . A man wins his dream vacation to Omaha, a woman dies, a child drives a maniac bus, a student pushes the limits of algebra, old women play checkers, it rains for forty days, and the swallows nest in the chimney. Flashes & Floaters is a mix of the serious and the farcical, the surreal and the real, a series of skidding U-turns within thefamiliar drive-and like most days, it all comes in a mix. With his mate Elizabeth Fuller,Conrad Bishop has written 40+ plays, hundreds of sketches, and five novels. His plays have been produced Off-Broadway, in regional theatres, and in thousands of their own performances nationwide. Their public radio series have been heard nationally, and he is twice winner of writing fellowships from the NationalEndowment for the Arts.

GALAHAD'S FOOL offers a glimpse of backstage reality unadorned by glitter but blessed with a hardscrabble magic.A year after the death of his wife and co-creator, a grizzled puppeteer struggles to build a solo show. It's to be a lightweight spoof-an aging Sir Galahad launching a second mad quest for the Grail-but his heart isn't in it. When he envisions a peasant being flayed and a frail Fool named Sammy Shitpants appears, his play turns sharply personal. Albert sees that his show won't be for kids and probably not so funny. The story swings between Albert wrestling with the gnarly process of creating his off-beat puppet show and the fantastic narrative itself. While the Knight prepares his army-no solo knight-errant nonsense but a serious campaign-the Fool teaches the lonely wife Mara to juggle, and in desperation to follow her husband, she changes guises with the frail androgynous Fool. The quest becomes a mindless bloodbath, plague strikes, and Galahad and his Lady Fool alone survive as derelicts staggering through a futuristic dystopia. Meanwhile, Albert's costumer Jeanette has claimed a deep stake in the project and awakens his latent desire. Their conflicts lead them into bed-a clumsy comedy, but laughter and the project create an ambivalent bond.On opening night, Jeanette tells him she's moving to Knoxville. Albert is shaken but steps forward into the play. At the climax, horsemen approach at a gallop, the Fool is trampled, dies in Galahad's arms, and is revealed as his wife. His tears fill a battered cup, and he drinks from the Grail.In the final performances, Albert finds kinship with Galahad's despair and dogged vision. After closing night, Albert turns his battered Honda eastward. Jeanette has invited a visit, and he opens to the risk of new love.

It's a monstrous maze of a mansion, built by a grief-ridden heiress. A tour guide, about to retire, has given his spiel for so many years that he's gone blind. On this last tour, he's slammed with second sight.He sees the ghosts he's always felt were there: the bedeviled heiress, her servants, and a young carpenter who lands his dream job only to become a lifelong slave to her obsession. The workman's wife makes it to shore, but he's cast adrift.And the tour guide comes home to his cat.