Keith Blenman returns with his second collection of offbeat short fiction. From the misadventure of a delightfully deceptive statistical engineer to a sidesplitting deal with Death, these stories will definitely leave you thinking. What about? Well, we don't know. But thinking will be done. Happy thoughts. Sad thoughts. Oh yes, your mind will wander in so many tangled and loopy directions; we can't even begin to describe them. But they're loopy. So loopy in fact, you may want to lie down. But first, crack this bad boy to the first page and get ready for the occasionally dark, typically...

In 1914, Modernist pioneer Gertrude Stein published the original Tender Buttons, a Cubist work of art that has been equally celebrated, lauded, puzzled over, and on at least one occasion thrown across a room in pure frustration. Possibly. Of course today we know that true success is only found when something grand (or something that happens to be a cartoon from the 1980s) is given unnecessary sequel after sequel, a line of action figures, and multiple websites for fans and trolls alike to argue and threaten violence upon one another with. It's in such spirit that we proudly present this high...

Dear Mama, I'm not dead. Sorry for the deception. I've actually spent the last year and a half working for a loud mouthed, alcoholic creature named Gus. And we kill things together. Not people. Things. They're like people most of the time. Sort of. Anyways, Gus and I are seeking revenge together, but my survival is unlikely. I just thought I should prepare you. I may not have been in that fire, but in all probability you'll one day receive a call from some state police officer saying they found my mutilated corpse on the side of the road. Should that happen, I must be cremated as soon as...