Rescued by Penguins

"Rescued By Penguins, And Other Tales from Newman's Corner" is comprised of fictionalized field notes from life in a quintessential New England town, one that still likes to believe it is a "village," despite all evidence to the contrary. Some things I witnessed, some were told to me but most I created out of the thin air of my imagination. I've set them down here partly as a reminder to myself of the wisdom of that great Episcopal hymn: "Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all our years away, / They fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day."

"Rescued By Penguins, And Other Tales from Newman's Corner" is comprised of field notes from life in a quintessential New England town, one that still likes to believe it retains vestiges of being a "village." The town's name, Newman's Corner, is intended to echo the name that Thornton Wilder gave Grover's Corner in his play, "Our Town." Some of the things that are depicted were things that were loosely based on fictionalized personal experience or observation and the others were told to me by other fictional "village" residents. I've set them down here partly as a reminder to myself of the wisdom of that great Episcopal hymn: "Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all our years away, / They fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day."

Alan Bisbort is a writer, editor, and collage artist who lives in the democratic republic of New England. His most recent books are Beatniks: A Guide to An American Subculture and 'When You Read This, They Will Have Killed Me': The Life and Redemption of Caryl Chessman, Whose Execution Shook America. He is the editor of the website PleaseKillMe.com