This Side of Reality

<p>In 2020 author Gary Floyd published <em>Liberté: The Days of Rage</em>. He labeled it the little book with big ideas. The book hinted at existential questions that were hidden in plain sight. They soon grew into fruition in Washington European capitals and eventually the world over. Four years later after a sojourn into a devastating pandemic and a riot/insurrection further undermined America's unity <em>This Side of Reality</em> picks up where <em>Liberté </em>left off. The book asks troubling questions about the level of representation Americans and by extension Western allies enjoy. It questions whether anything other than preapproved narratives are allowed-something that Orwell wrestled with 80 years ago. The chapters in Floyd's earlier works were limited to a thousand words a common criterion for flash fiction. <em>This Side of Reality</em> doesn't strictly adhere to this but Floyd always the iconoclast still packs a wallop in his condensed pieces of contemporary prose. They make for short thought-provoking morsels that can be consumed in several one- or two-story sittings or devoured in their entirety all at once. Like a modern-day Tiresias it's a compelling mélange of prose nonfiction and essays that reads like a clarion call that will inspire readers toward a more sustainable future.</p><p> </p>