S. W. Campbell Libros

There are places where people say things are better. Where the downtowns do not empty after dark and people dare to dream beyond their means. Quirky utopias where the sins of the past are washed away by gentle rains and we all go forward arm in arm together into the brightening sunshine. Distant locations flocked to by young pilgrims, unencumbered by the deeply driven roots of age, where everything will be different. Combining both published and unpublished work, Stumptown is a collection of stories about ordinary people, navigating their personal anxieties and drama in a time when uncertainties were still tucked away and not allowed to distort the sense of hope in the air. It is a soliloquy to naivete, and the belief that a better world is a place rather than an idea.

The Man In The Sodden Cap is a collection of twenty-six short stories written during a period of emotional unleashing, a madcap rush to get words to the page. As with any such period of unrelenting literary expulsion, the results are a mix of emotional, personal, poignant, and inane. For many authors, these are the types of stories that often get kept in a drawer somewhere, not shared with anyone. But what use are stories if they are not shared? Individually these are good stories, but taken all together they tell the tale of heartbreak and remorse, and the need to move on. In this context, The Man In A Sodden Cap is in many ways a sequel to S.W. Campbell's first short story collection, An Unsated Thirst, a continuation and fitting conclusion to that earlier work.

Perhaps the world would be a better place if we thought of ourselves less as good people, and more as lousy people who manage to do good things. My friend Leopold was always a dreamer. The pandemic and our reactions to it left us broken and divided. Most of us just wanted to feel safe again, but others dreamt of something better. Leopold was one of these. Though I think he likely joined the People's Republic of 47th and Long purely out of geographic convenience, I know once part of it, he fully shared in its egalitarian vision. All I have are his letters. Sometimes I wish I had burned them, but I didn't, so now here they are. Maybe you can find a use for them. Perhaps they can help remind you who we truly are. The good, the bad, and most importantly, the indifferent.