Leisure's Edge

short stories

By: David Ryan Popescu

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Paperback | 2 September 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
240 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 1.4

Paperback

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It's weird. It's dark, and it is weird.

The world is under a microscope in Leisure's Edge, a collection of surrealist short stories that interweave elements of parable, modern koan, cyclical nightmare and social critique.

Exploring themes of self-importance, statistical probability, agoraphobia, legacy, cannibalism, infinity, mathematics, and the hypnotic lure of the permanence of art, the collection employs humour, not as a mere device, but as a weapon against itself.

Leisure's Edge holds up a mirror to society so that it may stare back and splash cold water in its own face. The stories have complexity and depth, they are thought-provoking with innovative literary structures yet wholly readable.

This work will resonate with admirers of Jos© Saramago, Donald Barthelme, Jorge Luis Borges, and Dostoyevsky's The Crocodile.

Industry Reviews

Leisure's Edge by David Popescu (2024) is a highly recommended read for anyone drawn to surrealist fantasy. It breaks free from the conventions of commercial fiction so often found in bookstores today. The stories begin with ordinary situations and musings, then seamlessly escalate into the surreal and the absurd - without ever losing narrative coherence.

Each piece is carefully composed, reflecting the author's deep appreciation for language and his pursuit of the precise word. In a quietly compelling way, readers are both invited and challenged to enter Popescu's richly imaginative world of images, words, and ideas. This is the work of someone clearly versed in painting, film, and literature.

It requires - and rewards - leisurely reading and likely more than a single pass to fully absorb. The title Leisure's Edge is aptly chosen: it suggests a delicate balance between relaxation and the abyss, a tension that runs through the book.

Popescu occasionally engages with canonical themes, such as the myth of Sisyphus in In Preparation for Facility 1. He treats them in a wholly original manner, while still nodding to literary predecessors like Edgar Allan Poe, Carlos Castaneda, Stanislaw Lem, and Gion Mathias Cavelty.

For connoisseurs of the genre, it's a rare delight to discover that works of this caliber are not only still being written - but evolving.

Dr. Eberhard Zangger

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