Book
Borrowed Light Press, 2025
9/10
The folk legend Charlie Parr is also an established author, and this 2nd book from the Minnesota musician brings us five stories that run parallel to this honest and non-pretentious songwriting that often surrounds the emotion and conditions that we share as humans.
Parr’s conversational mood of his writing sometimes defies grammar purposely, as his imagination relays tales of a bird nursing home, AI predators, thieves drifting and lonely people and animals. They’re full of dark humor, are melancholic anecdotes and are seemingly wandering rambling that’s still somehow insightful.
Consider Five the eloquent equivalent of your semi-intoxicated family member cornering you at Thanksgiving with an awkward story about befriending a raccoon, only when Parr tells the tale, you’re not dodging bad breath and instead hanging over word.
Whether your interest is piqued by murder or you prefer to hear about the minutia of day to day life in small town America, Parr’s quick stories will resonate.