Four Stories

By: Matthew Wayne Selznick

Narrated by: Matthew Wayne Selznick

Length: 57 mins

Publisher's summary

The first short story collection from Matthew Wayne Selznick focuses on revelations of clarity and epiphanies of character in the face of emotional challenges.

Also included are brief essays exploring the formative experiences and memories that inspired each short story, making this collection Matthew Wayne Selznick's most personal creative work to date.

The Stories:

The collection opens with "You Got Me", wherein the way two people each deal with one particularly rough day might have a lot to do with how they spend their days to come.

Next, a musician struggles with expectations and understanding when he travels far from home with his new band for "Gig Number Two".

In the third story, he says it's "Not My Fault", but his girlfriend is convinced his distractions will drive them apart. Then comes the most unexpected distraction of all....

The final story, "The Days of Wine and Roses by The Dream Syndicate", provides a mental soundtrack for a reluctant walk through memory and pain on the way to save a troubled damsel in distress one last time.

Each of the Four Stories explore universal themes of responsibility, relationships, honesty, and how we define character.

©2014 Matthew Wayne Selznick (P)2015 Matthew Wayne Selznick

Convert to literary fiction?

What did you love best about Four Stories?

The degree to which I identified with the characters

What did you like best about this story?

While it's not the stories per se, I LOVED the author's notes he included after each one. I anticipate that it will enrich later listenings. (And I will be listening to all of them again,)

What about Matthew Wayne Selznick’s performance did you like?

As any good narrator does, he brings the whole thing to life, but more than that as the author and a talented narrator, Matt brings a passion and emotion to the stories that no one else could.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I was forced to break it up but it would be awesome to let the four tales unroll in one session.

Any additional comments?

If all non-genre fiction (or all fiction period) could be this engaging, I'd be a happy reader. My only complaint is that one of the stories is more "scene" or vignette than story. Still, all were enjoyable.

A rare audio gem

Would you listen to Four Stories again? Why?

Beautiful stories, read beautifully. Selznick sure knows his art. Personal stories, very personal.

The author brings out more personal, more believable feelings in his reading than even the best professional reader could.

Almost as much as the stories themselves, I love the personal remarks of the author, where he relates how the stories came to be, and how he carved them from his life.