George Polley
George Polley was born in Santa Barbara, California and raised in Seattle, Washington. He has lived in California (Berkeley and Stockton), Illinois (Cooks Mills and Villa Grove), Minnesota (Luverne, Marshal and Minneapolis), and from 1984 until early in 2008, in Seattle, when he and his wife moved to Sapporo, Japan so that she could fulfill her dream of returning to the land of her birth.
His work has appeared in the South Dakota Review, Crow's Nest, Expanding Horizons, The Enchanted Self, Community Mental Health Journal, Maturing, The Lyon County (Minnesota) Review Wine Rings, North Country Anvil, North American Mentor Magazine, the McLean County (Illinois) Poetry Review, River Bottom, Tower Talks and Foundations.
He has also authored several booklets in the mental health field, two of them co-authored with Ana Dvoredsky, M.D. in 2007.
George's e-book 'The Old Man & The Monkey' poses one of the most elegant and powerful arguments against racism of all time, and his 'Grandfather & The Raven' argues equally compellingly against violence in all its forms.
His work has appeared in the South Dakota Review, Crow's Nest, Expanding Horizons, The Enchanted Self, Community Mental Health Journal, Maturing, The Lyon County (Minnesota) Review Wine Rings, North Country Anvil, North American Mentor Magazine, the McLean County (Illinois) Poetry Review, River Bottom, Tower Talks and Foundations.
He has also authored several booklets in the mental health field, two of them co-authored with Ana Dvoredsky, M.D. in 2007.
George's e-book 'The Old Man & The Monkey' poses one of the most elegant and powerful arguments against racism of all time, and his 'Grandfather & The Raven' argues equally compellingly against violence in all its forms.
The Old Man & The Monkey
Available from Amazon.com - here
Available from B&N - here
Available from Kindle - here
Available from Smashwords - here
* As recommended by Daily Cheap Reads *
'The Old Man & The Monkey' is a stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley's moving allegory of dignity in the face of prejudice and racism.
Available from B&N - here
Available from Kindle - here
Available from Smashwords - here
* As recommended by Daily Cheap Reads *
'The Old Man & The Monkey' is a stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley's moving allegory of dignity in the face of prejudice and racism.
Grandfather and the Raven
Available in paperback worldwide / free delivery - here
Available from Amazon.com - here
Available from B&N - here
Available from Kindle - here
Available from Smashwords - here
* As recommended by Daily Cheap Reads *
When my children were eight and five, they used to love listening to a couple of Barefoot Books CDs in the car and as they settled down to sleep – ‘Tales of Wisdom & Wonder’ narrated by Hugh Lupton and ‘Grandmothers’ Stories’ narrated by Olympia Dukakis.
Coming from Barefoot Books, these were charming multicultural tales suffused with wry observations on the world – the monkey who asked God to give him more misery, thinking that ‘misery’ meant honey; the blind man who was always one step ahead of his sighted companion who was trying to cheat him; the animals who helped two children escape a witch who wanted to eat them; the beautiful crone who drew a raven and a basket on her cell wall and had them come to life and carry her away.
There is a great deal of outstanding entertainment around for children nowadays, especially on TV and DVD and in computer games, which parents often candidly resent but which set the bar very high for more traditional literature-based competitors to jump over. However, speaking as a parent, it is always a delight when something I would regard as more wholesome than constant Japanese-based cartoon battling succeeds in entrancing my children as well.
George Polley’s ‘Grandfather & The Raven’ tales remind me a great deal of the Barefoot Books stories. Their starting point is a meeting between a talking (as they do) raven and an oldish man which leads to their teaming up to help and instruct the people around them. Their author is an American who chooses to live in Japan and they are suffused with a gentle knowingness and humour accompanied by a sharp disapproval of unprovoked violence (violent dogs, violent people, war). There is also a cannily and wryly portrayed running description of the relationship between the old man and his wife which serves to add welcome dabs of wasabi to the concoction.
According to George, these tales sprang from nowhere and told themselves, which I well believe as they are both freely flowing and naturally quirky, and clearly not targeted at a neatly-defined market segment nor containing artificial story-enhancer additives.
Some more cautious adults may baulk slightly at reading to a small child the tale of the angry man who beats his wife because he feels misunderstood and that of the ravens who literally have the shit scared out of them but, for me, such occasional departures from safe storytelling are the nutty bits in the organic wholemeal bread and I am sure that many a grandparent will as much enjoy reading these stories for themselves as retelling them at bedtime to younger folk.
It would be good to be able to hear them on audio CD too.
Available from Amazon.com - here
Available from B&N - here
Available from Kindle - here
Available from Smashwords - here
* As recommended by Daily Cheap Reads *
When my children were eight and five, they used to love listening to a couple of Barefoot Books CDs in the car and as they settled down to sleep – ‘Tales of Wisdom & Wonder’ narrated by Hugh Lupton and ‘Grandmothers’ Stories’ narrated by Olympia Dukakis.
Coming from Barefoot Books, these were charming multicultural tales suffused with wry observations on the world – the monkey who asked God to give him more misery, thinking that ‘misery’ meant honey; the blind man who was always one step ahead of his sighted companion who was trying to cheat him; the animals who helped two children escape a witch who wanted to eat them; the beautiful crone who drew a raven and a basket on her cell wall and had them come to life and carry her away.
There is a great deal of outstanding entertainment around for children nowadays, especially on TV and DVD and in computer games, which parents often candidly resent but which set the bar very high for more traditional literature-based competitors to jump over. However, speaking as a parent, it is always a delight when something I would regard as more wholesome than constant Japanese-based cartoon battling succeeds in entrancing my children as well.
George Polley’s ‘Grandfather & The Raven’ tales remind me a great deal of the Barefoot Books stories. Their starting point is a meeting between a talking (as they do) raven and an oldish man which leads to their teaming up to help and instruct the people around them. Their author is an American who chooses to live in Japan and they are suffused with a gentle knowingness and humour accompanied by a sharp disapproval of unprovoked violence (violent dogs, violent people, war). There is also a cannily and wryly portrayed running description of the relationship between the old man and his wife which serves to add welcome dabs of wasabi to the concoction.
According to George, these tales sprang from nowhere and told themselves, which I well believe as they are both freely flowing and naturally quirky, and clearly not targeted at a neatly-defined market segment nor containing artificial story-enhancer additives.
Some more cautious adults may baulk slightly at reading to a small child the tale of the angry man who beats his wife because he feels misunderstood and that of the ravens who literally have the shit scared out of them but, for me, such occasional departures from safe storytelling are the nutty bits in the organic wholemeal bread and I am sure that many a grandparent will as much enjoy reading these stories for themselves as retelling them at bedtime to younger folk.
It would be good to be able to hear them on audio CD too.
Sherlock Holmes in a Flash
That man never dies, and Abbot ePublishing have just released thirteen new flash fiction tales, seven of which were written by George Polley.
- 'Adventure of the Feline Assistant'
- 'The Neverbody Business'
- 'Sherlock Holmes and the Holiday in Brighton'
- 'Body of Evidence'
- 'The Sinister Monk'
- 'The Man with a Knife, or, MacTavish Saves a Neighbour'
- 'Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Clasp'
