Within the pages of Untied Knots …
• a 9-hour train trip through central Mexico turns into a 37-hour ordeal
• visitors to lively port of Veracruz enjoy sounds and sights of Old Mexico
• three hotel clerks must eject unwanted visitor, deal with feuding couple, and placate angry racist
• Midwestern couple takes circuitous three-country trip to Mexico City, with no home to return to afterward
• developers of early computer system obtain a surprising client
• low-roller residents of Las Vegas hotel feel as if they’re living in a circus
These are just a few of the dilemmas faced by travelers and stay-at-homes in Untied Knots, a collection of 33 tales from both the distant and more recent past. Split into three basic categories, each promises an offbeat twist or two.
Best described as ‚autobiographical fiction, ‚ nearly half of the tales are travel-based, largely factual, based upon second-class treks through everyday life that invariably steer around the posh and the touristy. Several stem from long-term journeys and random residence within Mexico, undertaken as far back as the 1970s.
Exploits of home-based characters are more fictional, though inspired at least in part by actual people, places, and events. Archived tales were written (or begun) decades ago, but never published.
James M. Flammang has been a journalist, writer, and editor for his entire adult life, with more than 30 books published. Most have been about cars (new, used, and historic), along with half a dozen children’s titles. He and his wife, Marianne, have been avid travelers in the past, especially in Mexico, veering away from the familiar tourist paths.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Tales of Travel
Introductionv
1. Night Bus from Memphis1
2. Night Train Out of Querétaro6
3. Heading South16
4. Christmas in the Port27
5. An Old Man at Cannes38
6. Entry Point46
7. Queasy Crossing51
8. Hostility in the Hostel55
9. Discomfort Zones60
10. Highland Freeze77
11. Ready? Go!83
12. Roadworthy91
13. Get It While It’s Hot98
14. Smitten106
Back at Home
15. Desk Duty113
16. Bad Sports118
17. Hotel Del Rey126
18. Wakeup Time131
19. Winding Down136
20. Scandal in the Dayroom142
21. Slipping Into Stupid149
22. Inhuman Relations155
23. Mail Call164
24. Whites Only ‚59168
From the Archive
25. The Last (Debt-)Free Man179
26. Slow Getaway198
27. Guzzler Gulch210
28. Crazyhouse224
29. A Bad Time for Crime232
30. Sunday Morning Blues245
31. Our Biggest Job Yet260
32. Score One271
33. The Courage of Kenneth291
About the Author297