Having spent a great deal time in airport bookstores over a twenty year period, I became a fan of The Best American Short Stories series. I haven't done much flying in the past five years and moved away from my need to have a book in my possession that I could put down easily without feeling that I was missing something. Recently, I seized the opportunity to download and read this, the 2013 edition. Perhaps it's sign of the times, but beginning with Heidi Pitlor using the Foreword as a platform to put her personal anxieties about gun violence on display through nineteen of the twenty selections, the reader is treated to dismal stories about flawed individuals and their less-than-uplifting experiences that left me frankly depressed. The sole exception to the other dreary tales was "The World to Come" by Jim Shepard which, though fitting the pattern of the rest of the book, was rich in old words which were new to me and carefully crafted. I have purchased The Best American Short Stories 2012 and hope for something better than what was provided for 2013.

As a genre steampunk is now a bit blase, so trust the ever-astonishing Bernardi to go beyond (before?) it and come up with this new genre, oxenpunk. The dystopian future/past he describes is essentially medieval, a terrifying world where the masses are controlled using the tried-and-trusted combination of ancient superstitions and good old-fashioned control-of-the-food-chain by the wealthy elite. Unfortunately his visions are neither conservative nor revolutionary, they are pretty much just rehashes of past societal failures. Where the book falls down most completely is the characters, none of whom are in any way likeable, and all of whom seem to be selfish, egotistical half-wits. Too dark to be enjoyable, but, like many books in the time-travel/alternate-history genre, serves as a warning as to how horribly things could go wrong if we as a society revert to pre-scientific folklore as a guide to how to run a civilisation.

Perfect fit, great price and well made! This is my second one on two different vehicles. If you use FM/AM you may notice less reception. But I only listen to satellite or pandora so it's perfect for me.