Simon Snootle and Other Small Stories

By Lorin Morgan-Richards

Simon Snootle and OTHER small stories is about seven misguided tales of humorous woe by several downtrodden characters that are simply looking to be themselves. The book begins with Simon Snootle, a meager young man who lived most of his life at the bottom of a cistern with neighborhood cats. He is not aware of any tragedy of the situation, but

• Language: English
• Publisher: A Raven Above Press
• Release date: Nov 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9780997319378

Book preview

Simon Snootle was such a Gracious Host

""It’s not as unusual, as the cistern was." – Simon Snootle

Simon Snootle was born in December, three weeks late. His mother worked day and night, and his father was only around between the hours of 3 and 4. He had five cousins, and six aunts, all of whom he had never met. When he was old enough to venture outside, he accidently fell into his parent’s cistern. But the parent’s did not bother to look for him. Not for cruelty, but for worry of what he might bring up. So instead, he continued to live there, and soon made friends with the neighborhood cats who fell in after. There was a few dozen down there with him, and each he decided to name after a crack in the wall.

There was Z

and Y

and L.

Just to name a few.

He served them insects, and various fishy frogs (yes, even frogs ended up there somehow). He and the cats ate leaves when it did not make them sick, and luckily, they had a small mound of dirt on which each could lay, and the cats could sit aside him. The cistern was about the size of a small bedroom, and quite tight when the cats wanted to play.

Eventually, they found many other things in the cistern too. Simon began to realize it was very easy for things to fall in. There were shoes and buttons, bags and boxes, even a bottle with a

Reviews for Simon Snootle and Other Small Stories

[tapestry100 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I receive an email not too long ago from Lorin Morgan-Richards wondering if I would mind reviewing his book, Simon Snootle and OTHER small stories. I'm leery of reviewing home-published books; I've received some less that stellar books this way in the past, but I thought I'd at least do a little research and looked the book up on Amazon and LibraryThing. After discovering that it has received 5 stars across the board at both of these sites, I thought I'd go ahead and offer to review it.Simon Snootle and OTHER small stories is a collection of seven short stories that introduce us to a variety of characters who all live very bizarre lives. For instance, Simon Snootle himself lives in a cistern with some cats, where he fell as a child and his parents never bothered to pull him out, in fear of what else may come up with him; or Mr. Slowbug, who may or may not have discovered that he is forever more going to be a fashion accessory. The stories are quirky and unusual and the accompanying illustrations fit the mood of the stories perfectly. I honestly think that unless you are a fan of the likes of Edward Gorey or Tim Burton, you probably won't get much out of these stories; but the Gorey and Burton fans will love this book.What makes the volume really shine, however, is the physical book itself; it is handmade! In the author's own words: '...I wanted to make sure I had a personal connection with how each book was created...writing, illustrating, drafting, printing, binding, and pressing each by hand.' To say that Lorin Morgan-Richards made a small work of art out his book is an understatement. The book is printed on acid-free paper and bound in a faux-leather cover, and the finished product is a loverly little edition that has a slight quirkiness and imperfection to itself that goes right along with the characters that are held inside it's pages; honestly, I could easily see this sitting on any bookshelf in any store, it is so well presented.Fans of Gorey and Burton and the like, don't hesitate to pick a copy up for yourself, as I don't think you will be disappointed. Morgan-Richards has created a host of fun characters and has given them a place to live in a beautiful, homemade book. The stories are quick and it won't take you much time at all to finish reading the book, but the overall package and the effort that Morgan-Richards put into his book from start to finish will certainly impress you as it did me.