A Pig in the Rumble Seat and other short stories Review

by Edward Hujsak

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

onyx95
Tahlequah, OK

Interesting collection of fiction and non-fiction stories

character lover, avid reader, low maintenance

OCT

2009

A Pig in the Rumble Seat and other short stories —

This book is a compilation of 24 short stories that range from 4 - 27 pages. The story topics are almost as wide ranged as the page numbers, it includes brief glimpses of the life of the author. Some stories are based on days of his youth during the 1930’s, some include his years working in his chosen field of chemical engineering, working on rocketry propulsions. There are some fantasy or science fiction stories to add to the collection as well as a segment of poetry.

With the average length of each story only 12 pages, this book is quick, easy and fun to read. I have even spent some time reading some of the stories aloud to my family and have suggested a few more. I found a couple of the stories to be overly influenced by technical information (which to some it would be very informative and interesting), but for me I much preferred the fiction and some of the youth memories. The added influence and knowledge of rocket design gives Mr. Hujsak a very special take on science fiction. Some of the recollections of a young boy growing up in New Hampshire are antidotal to the terrible aspects of the Great Depression era. The memory of cars, trucks and other machines are a great timeline of events to some people, Mr. Hujsak is no exception, and while I have no knowledge of what a Federal, a Reo or even a ‘35 Ford Roadster really looks like, the descriptions are good enough to enjoy the stories. As with any short story, the hope is to have enough information given in a way that is easy to follow and understand while still being entertaining. There are a several stories that surpass this, giving just the right amount of information and at the right time to be very enjoyable. If I had to pick just one story out of this book to call a favorite, I would have to go for the light, easy, fun of the science fiction story ‘The Toy’. Changes the way to look at a Martian landing, from just a ‘another mission failure’ to a possibility - maybe.