SECRETS OF MEN AND WOMEN is the perfect read for night watchmen, parking lot attendants, long haul truck drivers, or anyone else who must stay awake at night. The stories kind of creep up on you and bite you on the ass. A few with a kind of happy ending just to keep the reader from jumping off the nearest roof. The brilliant Charlie Simonds erotic drawings, included between these modern folktales, remind us that desire can ease the uncertainties of our ever-present lunacy.A great book for fans of Raymond Carver or Stephen King. –William Farley, writer/director, PLASTIC MAN, I WANTED TO BE A MAN WITH A GUN: THREE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN WWII. Everyone has secrets, so they say, and in Rick Schmidt’s latest book he takes this old saying to a new level. While many of the 28 stories feel like they’re right out of the newspaper, or from some trash mag like The National Inquirer, many touch upon seeking solutions, however strange, to ‘modern’ society’s ills. The book covers the spectrum of human emotions throughout its pages, celebrating all of our (secret) foibles. With some funny stories, some sad, some downright ironic, maybe upsetting, often baffling, SECRETS is a treasure trove of page-turning glimpses into the heart of American life. For instance, Schmidt’s teenager protagonist in the story SMALL POTATOES figures out a way to bring about at least a temporary halt to drug trafficking in the lower East Side of New York City, by disposing of much of the illegal substances. How’s that possible? You’ll just have to read to believe. In another, LIFE’S WORK, there’s a woman artist in Oakland, California, who attempts to suspend gang warfare by painting a huge-and-realistic mural of local members, pictured under a freeway underpass . Here’s a chance to enjoy how ART can possibly affect needed change.