Reprieve and Other Shorts

Own a handmade copy of original works by your author, editor, chief cook, and bottle-washer, David Bonello.

First off, if you like the writing at our website, and you are unafraid of the unusual (they’re not all unusual, just sometimes a bit twisted), you’re going to enjoy this collection of short stories. We know this, because here are a few reviews from readers.

From Our Readers

“I laughed, I cried, I demanded a copy of his book when its finished!” ~ Rose P, Edina, Minnesota.

“After reading your work, I have come to the conclusion that you were dropped on your head as an infant, numerous times.” CheryLynn, Florida.

“I am reading your book─tears of joy─so beautiful, so compellingly written. Thank you, David─beyond words to tell.” Lesley B, San Francisco.

Here’s one from a friend on Facebook, a young poet:

And this from a woman who gets first look at everything I write: “The prose of David Bonello is like taking a hike into the unknown. One never knows what one will discover but there are sure to be delightful surprises and yes, even an awe-inspired view of the depths of the landscape. Bonello’s award-winning creative works exhibit a masterful range of topics from humor to pathos. Just to list a few of my favorites: ‘Reprieve,’ ‘Like Cats and Dogs,’ ‘Ride It Out,’ and his memoirs as a Cobra helicopter pilot in Vietnam. To sum up, all of Bonello’s works are well worth the read.” Sherri Underwood, Ohio.

I have been a long-time contributor to The Minnesota Wellness Publications 501(c) charity (sometimes anonymously).  I think the work they do is outstanding and I’m honored to donate to such a wonderful charity.  I am convinced that their articles have enriched my life and that of my late husband (and some of my friends, too).  In recognition of my donations, David sent me his book, Reprieve and Other Short Stories.  He hand-made the book for me, and it’s beautiful!  When showing it to a friend, I said, if my house were on fire, I’d grab my dog, my cat and David’s book! 

The book is beautifully bound, so well done, it looks professional, although he admitted it was the first quarto he’s ever made.  The stories are well-written, entertaining, and so enjoyable.  David writes with a depth and compassion for his characters that is singular.  I love his writing, his style, his humor.  His writing is poetic at times and graphically intense at others.  Truly authentic. Please consider donating to this charity.

Elda Costigan, New Jersey

The Table of Contents

All of these stories are fictional, most have been published in literary journals, and three of them have been awarded prizes; the title story, “Reprieve,” has won three literary awards. Most of them were written while I was in college for my Master’s Thesis. The last three stories have been written over the past fifteen years.

You will note that the story, “One More Time” is written by Darrel P. Prudohn. He’s an author I created in the previous story, “Momentum.” I was studying for my finals at the time, so I let him write the damn thing.

Handmade

Yours truly has learned to make hardcovers, paperbacks, and now quartos (the size of a quarter of a regular piece of paper, in both hardcover and paperback).

Here is the full-size hardcover:

These are printed on special paper, are hand sewn, and each one takes about 12 hours to complete.

The full sized paperback version is not hand sewn but is still printed on special paper. It takes about four hours to complete.

Quartos

These are the size of a quarter of a piece of paper which is 8.5 x 11. The paperback version takes about four hours to complete.

Hardcover Quartos

These are not hand sewn, but the cover work is time intensive and they take between six and seven hours to create.

The print is tiny, but they’re “cute as hell” as a friend told me.

Each book, whether paperback, full sized, or a quarto is signed and dedicated to the person donating.

No matter the size, they each take the same length of time to make and I make enough tiny flaws to increase the value (you didn’t know that, did you).

Thus for a donation of $100.00 (or more), just write and tell me which one you want and I’ll get to work: [email protected].

WellnessJourneys.org is owned and operated by Minnesota Wellness Publications, Inc. We are a 501(c)(3) charity, staffed entirely by volunteers, and we sincerely appreciate your tax-deductible donations to help keep this site and this research going.

Thank You!
P.S. 100% of your donation goes to charity.

Once your donation is received, I’ll be in touch to see what exactly you would like.

A Second Book (Brand New!)

Yes, it is entitled Essays, Poems, and Stories, and has my Vietnam essays/writings that Sherri talked about up above in her review of my work.

It also contains a “lost” story that I’d completely forgotten about until a friend sent me a copy asking, “Is this yours?” It was. She liked it. So I re-typed it up and included it here. It’s called “The Magic Marker.”

It also contains a New Age story that I wrote because strange things had been occurring and I had been investigating some weird phenomenon for a few years. For example, I met a woman who read auras. She even showed us how to see them. At a party, she came up to me and nodding toward a car that was parking she asked, “Who’s that?” I said, “Berardo. Why do you ask?” She said, “Because your aura jumped about 12 feet the moment you saw her.” Anne, the woman who read auras, lived with Berardo after that for some ten years. They became the best of friends.

Oh, another story. My girlfriend, at that time, met Anne for coffee and while talking, Anne reached over and put her hand over my gal’s tummy saying, “You have worms.” Well, wasn’t that special. We really didn’t know what to do about it right then and there, but three days later my gal called me in a panic saying that three, four, and five inch worms were appearing in the toilet. We did a nice detox to end that problem, but both of us, again, were amazed at Anne’s special talent, and so you can probably guess one of my main characters in this particular story, “A Journey of a Thousand Miles” is based upon our friend Anne.

And you’ll find lots of laughs, as usual. One of my fans just wrote to me that she still can’t stop laughing.

Here is the table of contents:

As you can see, this is one big book and I don’t know if we can even make a quarto out of it. But the price is a donation, same as above. Just ask.