"Road Stories" is a collection of novellas, all with the common theme of people coping with their lives by taking to the road. In "Tierra del Fuego," after losing his wife and learning of an apparent affair, Matt Cravens starts driving south from his home in Chicago, and doesn't stop until the road figuratively and literally ends. Along the way, he copes with his grief and betrayal by constantly moving. But when he meets a kind sheepherder who has suffered his own lose, he learns that running and holding on to the past might not be the answer.
In "Lake of the Falls," Kevin Hargrove is a workaholic attorney who has been in a rut so long that he has given up on ever getting out. That is, until he takes a trip with his father to their former small hometown in Northern Wisconsin. Kevin hates the idea of going back, but when he unexpectedly runs into an old high school flame, he starts to think that getting out of his rut is not only a possibility, but a necessity. Can a divorced workaholic really change his life in his childhood hometown or was Thomas Wolfe correct that you can't go home again?
Finally, "Back on the Road" takes place in 1983, and follows three college friends who set out on a road trip inspired by Jack Kerouac's book, "On the Road." The journey tests the bounds of their friendship, and helps each of them understand what they want--and don't want--from their lives.
“Lou Mindar’s novellas are my new escape.” —Amazon Review
In three ambitious and beautifully rendered novellas, author Lou Mindar takes the reader on a journey of grief, loneliness, heartache, passion, redemption, and self-discovery. Through trials and tribulations, Mindar’s characters find peace and grace in some of the most unlikely locales and situations. His deceptively simple and direct prose tells stories that are familiar, yet extraordinary; unadorned, yet evocative.
In Tierra del Fuego, a young husband is faced with the reality that his recently deceased wife had been unfaithful. Grappling with his grief and the anger he feels over his wife’s betrayal, he begins driving south from his home in Chicago, and doesn’t stop until the road ends in extreme southern Argentina.
Lake of the Falls is the story of a workaholic attorney who pours himself into his work to avoid the complications and disappointments of his life. But during a trip back to his hometown in northern Wisconsin, he must face a decades-long feud with his father, which is only complicated when he runs into an old high school flame.
In Back on the Road, three friends—all recent college graduates—set out on a road trip inspired by Jack Kerouac’s book, On the Road. They plan to spend most of the summer traveling across the country, seeking adventure and putting off adulthood, but sometimes, even the best laid plans don’t turn out as intended.
“Tierra del Fuego is a sparsely and beautifully written novella about what it takes to overcome loss and how travel and new experiences can bring one back to life. Mindar captures, in this short book, the essence of what it means to be human and to discover that no one person’s grief is greater than another’s. Love and loss are universal, and so is hope.” – Melanie Neale
“Mr. Mindar’s prose is freighted with just enough detail to make his scenes feel tangible. His sentences never feel forced or over-written.” — Nick Rupert