Shoes and Other Stories by le plus cher Herrmann, Robert NEUF

"Shoes and Other Stories" is a collection - a novella and six short stories:

"Madeleine" follows a young mans growing le plus cher infatuation of a woman who sits next to him in the theater. Each encounter inspires him farther on an eye-opening artistic journey.

"Neglect" is an expressionistic look at obsession, the disintegration of dreams and the downward spiral of a marriage.

"The Wind Change" An elderly artist in mourning, retraces the happiness of an earlier period as he wanders familar lakes and mountains of the Adirondacks.

"Zigzag" An old ragged stranger wanders by a village wineshop and engages the struggling proprietor in a tale - a long ago amorous adventure in a foreign land.

"The Blanket" A mans determination to carry out a promise - transporting his brothers ashes on a voyage under sail, with his two nephews, to a final, sacred resting place.

"Out of Season" Four co-workers on a deer hunting weekend in the Adirondacks. The weather is unseasonly warm and rainy, creating boredom and frustration; one member commits a betrayal and suffers a bizarre injury.

"Shoes" A novella from two points of view. The life of a village drunk through the eyes of a recovered alcoholic. The story starts in the mid-sixties and follows them into the eighties - explores the social turbulence of the times and the conflict of values based on individual and cultural perspectives.