Felicity lives in an inner world that's timeless, where past lives infringe, dreams have theme songs, and good guys await a sequel to Thelma and Louise. Fall may be road kill season in the countryside, but every day is funeral season in Smiggle's Bottom. Braced by good singers and pickers, there's nothing like death to make folks feel alive in Life, Death, and Beyond Smiggle's Bottom.
From the Fourgoose house to the afterlife, in fear of ending up with a Smiggle's Bottom boy, Felicity raises the possibility of Eternal Bullshit, and the idea that Truth isn't necessarily real (or that reality isn't necessarily Truth). A fictional autobiography presented in fractals that explores relationships to loopy aunts and in-laws, lovers from past lives, Manx ancestors, rivers, goddesses, a village of invisibles, a glass man, Ernie Kovacs, Gracie Allen, and others.
Industry Reviews
"Felicity is an unforgettable character whose blow-your-mind-fantasy world is like nothing I have ever read. LIFE AND DEATH BEYOND SMIGGLE'S BOTTOM is hilarious and also might make you shed a tear or two. I could not put the book down.There is a great movie or TV series herein."
....Lloyd Kaufman, President, Troma Entertainment and Creator of The Toxic Avenger.
"LIFE, DEATH, AND BEYOND SMIGGLE'S BOTTOM" is a wonderful story, rich in interesting characters and thoughtful observations about life. Gay does a wonderful job of connecting where we come from to where we are and the different choices we make as we navigate through life. The contrast, as an example, between Felicity's early life in western Pennsylvania with her adult life in college and then again in Manhattan is so compelling that it can send the readers' thoughts into her or his own memories of leaving home and making a life.
The use of funeral experiences acts as a wonderful cultural translator that focuses on family and traditions. Seeing the experience through Felicity's eyes as a child explains much about her development as a person. LIFE, DEATH AND BEYOND SMIGGLE'S BOTTOM is a heartfelt read, sparking reflections by readers of the trials and wonderment of their journey through life.
Dr. Michael H. Glantz, Director of Consortium for Capacity Building, University of Colorado, Boulder
Gay Terry has a unique, superb voice the likes of which you have not encountered before. LIFE, DEATH AND BEYOND SMIGG'E'S BOTTOM has a brilliant sense of prose, humor, and philosophy. It may or may not be fiction, and may or may not be speculative, but it all rings true. Terry dwells on death for the majority of the book, but never in a maudlin or creepy manner -- in fact it is often downright funny.
Jim Freund, host of WBAI's "Hour of the Wolf"
"Utterly engaging! A vivid, evocative collage of stories, woven with great mastery. The keen, fresh observation and the breathtaking kaleidoscopic tumble of humor and pathos will hook you, Fellow Reader. You will not want to put this book down. When you have finished it, you will yearn for a sequel."
Patricia Eakins, author of The Hungry Girls and Other Stories and The Marvelous Adventures of Pierre Baptistery, a novel.
"From the backwoods of Western Pennsylvania coal country to the spires of New York City sophistication, with stops along the way where fact and fantasy mingle (sometimes hard to tell apart), Gay Partington Terry's new book, LIFE, DEATH AND BEYOND SMIGGLE'S BOTTOM, is a pure delight! A wonderful story teller with a wonderful story to tell!"
David "The Wizard" Bennett Cohen, original keyboardist for Country Joe and the Fish.
At first, this book seems to be about death, but it is really about life-the life of an extended family in northern Appalachia. It is also about the internal life of the narrator, who is fascinated with her family but who is also in touch with a parallel world, where strange beings like "the invisibles" live. This hybrid work of memoir and made-up stories is filled with characters-I mean characters, quirky people-who will populate your mind as they populate Smiggle's Bottom. It is an unpredictable, absorbing, eye-opening read, accompanied by helpful photos.
-Thaddeus Rutkowski, author of Violent Outbursts
