Hugh Aaron's Stories From a Lifetime Book Tour -- Book Review

ISBN 9781882521128, 288 Pages, Softcover
List price $15.00  

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A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

It’s a fact that living, being alive and experiencing life, is, by itself, an amazing experience. Regardless of our age, if we look back on our lives we are bound to find something or someone marvelous, unforgettable: a person, an event, even a dream. And when we look back from the vantage point of an elderly person, we have only the long past to ponder because there’s so little time left in the future. In our old age we think about our life’s experiences, especially the crucial ones that molded us into the persons we’ve become and marvel at them. That experience, those events, those people, are the sources of the stories you will find in Stories from a Lifetime. All of us are important, not only to ourselves, but to the people around us, and we carry them within us to the very end. All of us have such stories to tell, different from your author’s, of course, but no less moving, no less inspirational. So as you read each tale, think of your own stories, beginning with your childhood to where you are now.

Summary:

Stories from a Lifetime carries readers through a widely diverse series of life’s peaks and valleys with poignant, clear-eyed vision and understanding that is only gradually gained across the course of a lifetime through endurance and honest appraisal of the emotional rollercoaster that we all ride.

These stories form a welcome, and increasingly rare, honest, grounded, and beautifully written collection that will touch nerves while sympathizing with what it means to be human.

Hugh Aaron delicately reveals the world through the innocent eyes of a young boy, through those of a soldier far from home during wartime, and those of a struggling businessman and faltering husband. He is unafraid to reveal panic beneath a façade of success, the deep and hollow sadness that may exist in an outwardly happy marriage, the yearning we feel to make a break for freedom from the rat race, the unexpected emotional responses that shift lives far beyond the expected course of events.

My Review:

What an amazing book to read.  Even though I am in only in my 30's, I have experienced so much personal, as well as had so many important people help shape and make an impact on my life.  Through Hugh Aaron's short stories, you are able to see how other people's lives are impacted and the emotional roller coaster many people experience during their lifetime.  It doesn't matter what age you, from the moment you are born to the time you take your last breath, each day you are impacting someone's life, and they and are others are doing the same with yours.  It is amazing to see how each individuals journey through life plays out, and how a series of events can shift our lives from one direction into another.  

If you are looking for a great summer read, I highly suggest picking up Hugh Aaron's book, Stories From a Lifetime today.  No matter what your age, you will truly appreciate the stories, and begin to think about the journey you have been on and what lies in.

About the Author:

Hugh Aaron was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts.  He then went on to graduate from The University of Chicago, where his professors encouraged him to pursue a literary career. However, Mr. Aaron made his living as CEO of his own manufacturing business, while continuing to write.

Hugh Aaron sold his business in 1984, at which time he decided to devote his full attention to writing.  This endeavor has thus far resulted in two novels, a travel memoir, two short story collections, two collections of business essays, a book of movie reviews, a child’s book and a letter collection. The Wall Street Journal also published eighteen of his articles on business management as well as one on World War II.

Mr. Aaron has written a total of eleven full length and sixteen one-act stage-plays. His most recent books are a collection of five novellas entitled QUINTET, published in 2005 and a second short story collection, Stories from a Lifetime, which was published in December 2010. Most of Hugh Aaron's plays deal with contemporary issues and several have had readings at local libraries, churches, and in private homes. One of his full length plays was given a world premiere production by a prize winning theatre company in June 2009 in New Bedford, Mass. A second play was produced in Portland Maine in 2010.

Hugh Aaron resides in mid-coast Maine with his artist wife.

To learn more about Hugh Aaron and his works, please visit his website.

Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book in order to write up an honest review.  The views above are mine and mine alone.