MAGICAL BEARS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY

An eclectic collection of fables defies reason yet commands attention.  

Sewn inside Moran’s patchwork quilt of 22 curious literary sketches, poems, and short stories are underlying messages about society, the world at large, and the complexities of the human condition. The “naturally sticky” mammals in the opening narrative are stacked into totems to conjure rainstorms or to make “China untether the yuan from the dollar.” The son in “The Cut-Off Man’s Father” tries to relate to his dad, who is physically plugged into machinery that assesses and collects people’s debts. One of the best and most promising tales is the multipart, metaphoric fable “Rainbow Noir,” which features the magical bears of the book’s title. The story is set in an apocalyptic former “Rainbow World” that was once “beautiful and bright” but has, since the early 1950s, become a dark, grim, noir “Shadow City.” Can a group of activist bears named Transgression Bear, Fatalism Bear, Alienation Bear, and Femme Fatale Bear (who unlocks men’s innermost desires) stop Nihilism Bear from destroying the world? Some tales convey mood and spirit in the economy of a few pages, like the slim, sinister story of George, a petulant young boy in “At the Cherry Tree,” who makes demands of a backyard tree nymph with wooden teeth, and a speculative narrative that surmises the possibilities of animals with elemental powers. Hints of allegory, symbolism, and philosophy are embedded in several tales, some more obvious than others. The initially fanciful “Panda Dancing” eventually alludes to larger questions about the meaning of life, while the manipulative politician in “The Filibuster of the Sailor-Senator” maneuvers legislation around the Patriot Act despite the dire warnings of a local demon. As a prolific designer and developer of a series of role-playing games who has a doctorate in computer science, Moran displays a boundless creativity throughout a literary mélange that often disregards logic but consistently entertains. If the anthology seems mystifying and extraordinarily offbeat, it is, and that’s an integral part of its effervescent charm. Readers of quirky, bizarre fiction will appreciate the author’s wit, inventiveness, and philosophical meanderings encapsulated in this celebration of the unexpected.

A phantasmagorical oddity full of wonderfully weird characters and otherworldly creations.