Preston L. Allen

"From this point forward, readers consulting any reference work addressing the concept of "tour de force" will find there a citation of Preston L. Allen's "Every Boy Should Have a Man." It is one thing to devise a fable dealing so adroitly with such concepts as racism, war, religion, and the very nature of civilization itself, but Preston's true triumph is the infusion of each page and every astonishing episode with palpable emotional resonance."---Les Standiford, author of "Desperate Sons"""Every Boy Should Have a Man" is a wild animal, a melancholy human, a hybrid with fangs and tears, a book that cannot be classified and should never be classified--it is a book that I read until late into the night, and then talked about with my daughters, my dog, my friends, and myself. I won't ever look at the daughters, or the dog, or the world, in quite the same way."--Susan Straight, author of "Between Heaven and Here" "In this new novel, Preston L. Allen writes with an elegance and honesty that make his observations on 'humanity' -- our common flaws, our insistent dishonesty, our daily failings -- a psalm, a love song to imperfection, and yet holds onto a firm and astute insight. Beautiful, elegiac, and optimistic."--Chris Abani, author of "Graceland""Like Dostoyevsky, Allen colorfully evokes the gambling milieu. . . . Like Burroughs, he is a dispassionate chronicler of the addict's daily ritual, neither glorifying nor vilifying the matter at hand."--"The New York Times Book Review, " on "All or Nothing""Heartfelt and occasionally hilarious, "Jesus Boy" is a tender masterpiece."--Dennis Lehane, author of "Mystic River," on "Jesus Boy"A riveting, poignant satire of societal ills with an added dose of fantasy, "Every Boy Should Have a Man" takes place in a post-human world where creatures called oafs keep humanlike "mans" as beloved pets. One day, a poor boy oaf brings home a man whom he hides under his bed in the hopes his parents won't find out.With echoes of Margaret Atwood and "Jack and the Beanstalk," Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels "and Octavia Butler's "Kindred," this is a picaresque journey into uncharted territory in earth, sky, and firmament.Oafs and mans each gain insight and understanding into one another's worlds, and the worlds that touch theirs--ultimately showing that oafs and mans alike share a common "humanity." Filled with surprising twists and turns, the novel is in part a morality tale that takes on many of today's issues, including poverty, the environment, sexism, racism, war, and religion, all in lighthearted King James prose.Preston L. Allen is a recipient of a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship and a winner of the Sonja H. Stone Prize in Fiction. He teaches writing in south Florida.

Welcome to the bright red bouncing-ball world of Cindique Sanders-Lassiter in this slick, sleak, sexy tale from the undisputed master of literary erotica, Preston L. Allen. Cindique is in love with Roderick Redd, the cutest phone pro at McDarc Inc., but can she save him from the clutches of their boss, Groan of Dark? In the meantime, Cindique herself is being pursued by the violent wildman with the pretty, pretty shoes, who still holds the key to her apartment and her heart. "Bounce is rejection and reversal. Bounce is making love to words. "Bounce is the one who'll always be there for you. "Bounce is the day he fails to show up. "Bounce is the ball, which like our heart, is made of rubber so we scarcely feel it when we hit the wall over and over again.