"The Loneliness Channel" by Michael C. Keith
Scantic Books is proud to present "The Loneliness Channel" by acclaimed author Michael C. Keith. (Available in paperback and ebook; proceeds to go to charity supporting loneliness.)
The country’s major communication media (networks, magazines, journals, newspapers, and internet) have been reporting what it considers the new global pandemic: loneliness. The reports stem from the research of prominent medical and psychology institutions. While the findings are startling, they have not been a surprise to Michael C. Keith, the author of The Loneliness Channel. A sense of aloneness and isolation were prominent aspects of his life as a child hitchhiking America under the dubious stewardship of his divorced alcoholic parent. Frequently left to his own resources in strange cities while his hapless father took day jobs before hitting the road again to places the elder Keith imbued with endless unrealistic possibilities, his son passed time companionless in gloomy rooming houses. While the pair’s cross-country jaunts possessed moments of distracting adventure, they were inevitably followed by long periods of disappointment and longing. This left an indelible mark on the author even as he grew to be a successful adult, surrounded by loving friends and family. In recent years, those far-gone days have manifested in a myriad of fiction and an acclaimed memoir, including this new collection, which is devoted to the topic of loneliness through the literary devices of irony, humor, and pathos.
“Pithy and profound mini-tales abound in The Loneliness Channel. New perceptions, decisions, regrets, rants, all things possible and impossible on every page. Delights and forebodings. Joys and sorrows. Keith plays with real and potentially real life from every angle in this marvel of a book. Powerful and compelling. Such abundance in compression.” –Tony Press, author of Crossing the Lines
“Two great strains in American culture are vulgarity and loneliness. Michael C. Keith understands one without resorting to the other.” –Luke Salisbury, author of No Common War
“Michael C. Keith’s The Loneliness Channel is a collection of quietly powerful prose poems, or ‘micro-prose,’ as the author describes them, that explore solitude and loss. The work is suffused with a sense of poignancy and regret, but also with touches of dark and subtle humor. One thing that strikes the reader is that this could only be the work of a mature writer, one who realizes that the value of what has been lost reminds us of the value of what remains.” –Charles Coe, author of Purgatory Row
“In this marvelous compendium, Michael C. Keith provides an amazing range of very brief stories about the experience of loneliness, most with a sardonic twist, many with a touching tone. Turns out there are more than a hundred ways to be lonely!” –Lawrence Kessenich, author of Hard Times Require Furious Dancing
