Books by Wayne Kyle Spitzer

How did we come to be? What happens when we die?Suspend disbelief as you explore the various creation stories gathered for this compilation of all new myths. Or perhaps marvel at the universe in a whole new way.

The ferryman turned to face her and she quickly looked away-as if an owl had suddenly focused on her in the dark. Now that they'd reached the trunk of the river, he had relaxed the intensity of his rowing to a more casual pace, and was allowing the current to do most the work. (She didn't dare risk activating the ring now!) Instead she looked at the floorboards, and after a few moments, remembered the book lying next to her. She reached toward it habitually-but froze when the raven cawed loudly and its red beam fell upon the back of her hand. A tense moment followed in which she looked from the ferryman to the raven then back again as her fingertips wavered over the golden cover. Then the ferryman motioned with his head, and the raven's light swung away and switched off. She picked up the book slowly and placed it on her lap.

The Nano-T suddenly snapped around to face her, snarling, its color changing to a blood red. Then it turned away and began pecking the same series of icons again and again and again. Jan leaned forward, staring at the screen. The symbols being hit were the lightning bolt, the drumstick, and an entirely new one: a simplified representation of a female, like the kind which marked the women's restroom. Project Napoleon was highly classified. Its staff was minimal. Jan was the only woman. Translated, the message could only read: "No. Eat You. No. Eat You. No. Eat You ..." It stopped, abruptly. Jan scooted her chair back. "Jesus," she whispered, staring straight ahead. "He's threatening me."

It's the dawn of the 1970s and everything is changing. The war in Vietnam is winding down. So is the Apollo Space Program. The tiny northwestern city of Spokane is about to host a World's Fair. But the Watergate Hearings and the re-entry of Skylab and the eruption of Mount Saint Helens are coming...as are killer bees and Ronald Reagan. Using the iconography of 20th century trash Americana-drive-in monster movies, cancelled TV shows, vintage comic books-Spitzer has written an unconventional memoir which recalls J.M. Coetzee's Boyhood and Youth. More than a literal character, 'The Kid' is both the child and the adult. By eschewing the technique of traditional autobiography, Spitzer creates a spherical narrative in which the past lives on in an eternal present while retrospection penetrates the edges. X-Ray Rider is not so much a memoir as it is a retro prequel to a postmodern life-a cinematized "reboot" of what Stephen King calls the "fogged out landscape" of youth.