Gullible's Travels didn't start out to be a book of short stories. It started out simply as my childhood. I didn't know at the time that my trusting and gullible nature would lead to such interesting narratives. It just turned out that way.
My naiveté colored my perceptions, my beliefs, and my reality, and my behavior was determined by what I thought I knew and what I chose to believe. Ordinary, everyday events, when reconsidered, become reminders of my childish sensibility. But all kids are a little gullible, right?
Okay, show of hands. How many of you once believed that Fig Newtons were filled with ear wax? Just me? Alright then, how many of you thought there was an evil force lurking behind the TV test pattern? Anyone? How about derailing a freight train by placing a penny on the tracks? Am I the only kid who believed everything he was told?
My entire childhood, it seems, was characterized by an eager and enthusiastic acceptance of outlandish hearsay, deliberately deceptive claims, and assorted urban legends. In sharing these stories I am heartened to learn that baby-boomers like myself are reminded of their own childhoods, while younger readers are
sometimes surprised to learn about how
things used to be "way back when."
So if you'd like to hear about a
childhood that was slightly out of touch
with reality, told often in the voice of
the child who was there, let him tell you
the one about...
Gullible's Travels