I have a friend at work who was very large with child, and I gave her a copy of "The Barrens and Others" as a pregnancy gift. I like giving to the mother; I figure everyone else will give gifts for the child.

At any rate, she had a long labor, 17 hours, which resulted in a C-section. Mom and very big baby boy are doing well.

Mom said that while she was...well...laboring, she read snatches of "The Barrens." She loved it and found it a wonderful distraction. She is now reading "The Barrens" while breast feeding. She's still loving it but wonders if all the shivers she experiences while reading are having an effect on the child. Either way, she's not stopping.

She is now an FPW convert. She loves the clarity of Paul's writing and the smooth flowing narrative, not to mention the thrills and chills. She's hot to trot for the next book. Short stories are best for her at this time.

Other than "The Barrens," I don't think any of FPW's short stories are in print now, are they? Any suggestions?

That has to be one of the most interesting and unusual thread titles to date.

There is another short story compilation - Soft and Others. I find it's a little harder to locate, but definitely worth the search.

There's also "The Little Beige Book of Nondescript Stories". It's only about 80 or so pages if my memory serves and was available through Borderlands Press.

There is another short story compilation - Soft and Others. I find it's a little harder to locate, but definitely worth the search.

There's also "The Little Beige Book of Nondescript Stories". It's only about 80 or so pages if my memory serves and was available through Borderlands Press.

Soft and Others is EXCEPTIONAL! I'm pretty sure you can get a used copy on amazon.com. I seem to think Paul mentioned this being republished, but I'm not sure.

I have a copy of the little biege book, and it was a fun book with good stories. Consider getting a copy of that, Maggers.

Now Maggers, you're not about to go and buy a THIRD copy of Little Beige Book are you...?!!!! :p

I have a friend at work who was very large with child, and I gave her a copy of "The Barrens and Others" as a pregnancy gift. I like giving to the mother; I figure everyone else will give gifts for the child.

At any rate, she had a long labor, 17 hours, which resulted in a C-section. Mom and very big baby boy are doing well.

Mom said that while she was...well...laboring, she read snatches of "The Barrens." She loved it and found it a wonderful distraction. She is now reading "The Barrens" while breast feeding. She's still loving it but wonders if all the shivers she experiences while reading are having an effect on the child. Either way, she's not stopping.

She is now an FPW convert. She loves the clarity of Paul's writing and the smooth flowing narrative, not to mention the thrills and chills. She's hot to trot for the next book. Short stories are best for her at this time.

Other than "The Barrens," I don't think any of FPW's short stories are in print now, are they? Any suggestions?

It will be interesting to see whether the baby will be an FPW fan by osmosis!

Now Maggers, you're not about to go and buy a THIRD copy of Little Beige Book are you...?!!!! :p

ROFL! Paul, you read my mind. I still have my 2 copies of "Little Beige Book," one signed generically by Paul and the other inscribed to me. I am probably going to give the generically signed one to a friend or her son, if either one becomes a rabid FPW fan, which may happen soon. My friend is 3/4 of the way through "The Tomb" and can't believe that she waited so long to read it, given how often I mention FPW's books. She is loving it, natch.

I am not willing to give up my hard cover of "Soft and Others," even to lend, because they are sort of hard to come by. I will try to see what I can find on ebay or amazon.

And yes, Scott, I thought it was a catchy title for the thread, too!

That has to be one of the most interesting and unusual thread titles to date.

Yeah, it caught my attention right away too. I was way too old for breast feeding by the time I started reading FPW. Although.......