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"""Koubourlis (author of A Concordance to the Poems of Osip Mandelstam) offers a thought-provoking collection of auto-fiction stories drawn from a childhood that found him bearing witness to violence both intimate and epochal. The opening pages contemplate a father whipping his son-it's the narrator's father wielding the belt, and the narrator's brother on the receiving end-and also the ""60,000 Greek Jews"" who ""were herded cattle-like for shipment to forced labor or extermination camps."" At times it can be difficult to tell if these accounts are memory-based essays or works of fiction fortified by memory. But it's their urgency and spirit of restless moral inquiry that matters, as Koubourlis contemplates complex questions of culture, parentage, violence and more. Growing up in World War II and the Greek Civil War, and crediting his ""life's first horrific memory to Mussolini,"" Koubourlis was raised by strict parents who did their best to keep him and his brother out of the kind of mischief that might end up in a book of short stories. Often the boys felt the sting of their father's belt as a result of their horseplay or innocent ineptitude. Readers will feel the terror of a young boy as his first memory is the Italian bombing of his hometown in Greece, but humor is never far away. (Readers sensitive to material should take note.) In the book's second half, the stories build in intensity, exploring individuals' connectedness to the world and our closest environs, with a pained yet tender story of the adult narrator, in Chile with his wife, tending to a wayward kitten, Grits. Sometimes Cruel concludes with an essay on a song heard in a dream and Koubourlis's searching thoughts about its meaning. A YouTube link offers readers a chance to hear the melody that Koubourlis describes as ""powerful but calm, as if to emphasize that everything is alright, as it should be."" This is an enigmatic book that, for readers of a contemplative bent, will linger in the mind. Takeaway: Searching, enigmatic memory stories of growing up and living in a violent world."" -- Booklife Reviews ""The collection's strength lies in its diversity. The stories move from early incidents of scarring pain and sadness to memorable experiences with love, animals, partnership, music, and death. The author takes care to embed his opinions and seasoned perspective into each story, framing and informing them with personal insights and life lessons, all placed in historical context; ""My First Memory"" describes the harrowing bombing of his hometown in ""war-soaked Greece"" at the opening of World War II and how the citizens of the area scattered in horror. Koubourlis also offers considerations of the nature of evil, the dynamics of ""what a civilized society should be,"" and our propensity to cater to the forces of outside control. Thoughtful, lucid, and emotionally aware throughout, this assemblage of cathartic stories is a powerful testament to memory and meaning, written with passion, intensity, dark humor, frank honesty, and immense heart. A memoir in stories contextualizes the author's striking experiences throughout his adventuresome life."" -- Kirkus Reviews"

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The author achieved the highest academic degree after overcoming hunger, homelessness, and hopelessness. He has known failure and success, rags and riches. Dr. Koubourlis completed his graduate and post-graduate education in the United States; he was a professor at several major US universities and rapidly rose to tenured full professor. He has spent considerable time in several countries and is fluent in several languages. His exposure to different languages and cultures is reflected here. Although he has been writing all his life, this collection of short stories is the author's first non-academic effort to see the light of publication.

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