Less is more

?Less Is More? (and lesser stories) is a collection of short stories which have either already achieved publication or which were destined to remain in the shadowed cloisters of the unread. The style and thought processes of the author demands he occasionally walks the tightrope of jeopardy, with several stories in this collection risking the wrath of barristers in defence of the laws of libel. Other stories are liable to offend those with sympathy for Jehovah Witnesses and the inviolable right of poets to have their work unmolested. Poets and the literary industry are starting points for several of the stories and in ?The Master?s Masterpiece? the author has the audacity to pen a story around ?Ulysses?, James Joyce?s accepted masterpiece. He does, though, acclaim Joyce as the master of the English language. Whether that will prove enough to dig him out of the hole the story will get him in only time will tell. Obviously, as with the collections of even great writers, the good must be balanced by the moderate and the author apologises for ?The Green Divide?; though in his defence it has to be said that an editor long ago did think it merited inclusion in an anthology. He does though remain proud of ?Daffodils?, ?The Bard of Cornwall?, ?There Is No Good Except In God, Apparently?, ?Mallander?s Walk Home?, the title story and others. To those the author annoys, inflames with passion and generally hacks off, he is sincerely sorry. To those who buy this book he thanks from the bottom of his heart.