★★★★ Blasphemies and Bloviation is a collection of provocative literary short fiction, mixing satire, speculative ideas, social criticism, dark comedy, and moments of real tenderness. Earl L. Carlson presents it as “Provocative Stories, Long and Short,” and that fits: the book moves from arguments about religion and free speech to stories about death, memory, aging, politics, time, regret, and the strange ways people protect themselves from truth. It’s fiction, but it often reads like a conversation with a sharp, stubborn thinker who has decided not to whisper.

Carlson writes with a kind of cranky confidence that can be funny, abrasive, and surprisingly humane, sometimes all in the same stretch. In “Somebody Died,” for example, the setup is almost comic in its bluntness, but the story keeps pushing toward something more unsettling: a man who has died but still refuses to face himself. That’s one of the book’s recurring moves. It starts with a jab, then turns the knife inward. The sentences often have an old-fashioned weight to them, and the narration likes to pause, argue, explain, and judge. For me, it became part of the book’s personality.

I also appreciated how willing the author is to let the stories wander into big ideas without pretending to be tidy. Time, death, belief, class, politics, music, and memory all become fair game. “Siren Song at the Stanley” is a good example of the collection at its warmest: it begins with an old man’s irritation at modern music and grows into a moving story about youth, loss, a daughter, and the way a song can carry a whole life inside it. Then elsewhere, the book swerves into satire, cosmic speculation, or blunt political complaint. It’s uneven in the way many story collections are uneven, but the unevenness feels tied to the ambition. Carlson isn’t polishing every edge smooth. He’s poking at the reader, sometimes with a finger and sometimes with a stick.

I would recommend Blasphemies and Bloviation to readers who enjoy literary short fiction with a satirical bite, especially those who like stories that argue as much as they narrate. Readers who appreciate Mark Twain-style irreverence, Vonnegut-like curiosity about big questions, and a narrator who isn’t afraid to sound opinionated will find a lot to chew on here. I came away feeling that the book’s genre is best described as satirical literary short fiction, and at its strongest, it uses that genre well: to make the reader laugh, wince, think, and occasionally feel a little less certain than before.

— Thomas Anderson, Editor in Chief, Literary Titan

★★★★★ Blasphemies and Bloviation: Provocative Stories, Long and Short by Earl L Carlson is a collection of 22 short stories and five essays. The collection opens with “Blasphemies,” where the author shares his opinions on how religion has become a scapegoat for people to hold an opinion. “The Boogieman Under the Bed” is a poem that is a social commentary on the state of things and how everything has gone to hell. “Once Upon A Tragedy,” “Guardian of the Green Door,” and “A Bedtime Story” were all eclectic yet entertaining. However, my absolute favorite was “The Raveled Sleeve of Care.” The different timelines were fun, but the characters were what made me love it: Mr. Kleist’s visions of moments from his youth with his friend Mikey. An incident happens, and that changes everything for him. It's about memory, regret, and imagination, some themes that I truly enjoy!

The stories range from absurd literature to comedy to social commentary, each reflecting something new. Earl L Carlson created this collection with a lot of thought. He made sure readers would find something to enjoy in all his stories and essays. While I have mentioned the stories and essays I like, I’m sure more readers will find various pieces and stories that they enjoy. I loved how each story or essay had a clear theme, and the author made sure the reader understood it fully. While I mentioned that “The Raveled Sleeve of Care” is my favorite from Blasphemies and Bloviation, I really loved “The Boogieman Under the Bed” as well. It was different yet so right that I read it again and again until I memorized the chorus. Kudos to the author!

— Rabia Tanveer, Readers Favorite Editorial Review

★★★★★ Earl L. Carlson's Blasphemies and Bloviation is an eclectic collection of twenty-two short stories and five satirical essays. A man who did everything right in his life to meet the perfect woman is in for a surprise when he finally meets her. A World War II veteran wakes up in a time and place unfamiliar to him. A young boy becomes obsessed with eternity and continues to expand his knowledge about time until his last day on Earth. On the way to deliver eviction notices, a lawyer commits a horrific act from which there is no turning back. An old man reminisces about his brother's encounter with a dog that could run on water. A tragic accident at an intersection causes many lives to be changed forever.

Earl L. Carlson presents an engrossing anthology in Blasphemies and Bloviation. It's a collection any short story reader would love to have on their shelf. Funny, tragic, nostalgic, and sometimes existential, this collection evokes a wide range of emotions in the reader. Personally, it's one of the best books I've read this year. Carlson has an innate ability to capture the human experience in a way that will resonate with a broad spectrum of readers. Through his stories, the author masterfully taps into the rare inner feelings and emotions that all of us experience at one point or another in our lives. Overall, it's a great anthology, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you love well-written short works of fiction and satire, you're going to have a blast with this one!

— Pikasho Deka, Readers Favorite Editorial Review

★★★★★ Blasphemies and Bloviation by Earl L. Carlson is a collection of stories and essays that center around science, religion, death, relationships, and art. The author opens with a discussion on various religions and how blasphemy is unavoidable. The book contains stories about a man in the afterlife reflecting on his life, Cyrus, a man who lived in the golden age of music, and another tale follows Hollis and an anthropomorphic God as they discuss existence, creativity, and the nature of reality. The author talks about an original hypothesis that time is multidimensional, with diverging realities existing at the same time, speculating that the past, present, and future are simultaneously present. The book covers this assumption in the essays Perpendicularity and If I May Bloviate, and in the stories Doctor Smithers’s Groupie and Sanctuary, a story about a man experiencing two realities. It also delves into the difference between art and aesthetics, and in the poem The Boogieman, and in the stories Traveling Man and Hotsy, the author humorously addresses the decay of traditional values and societal decline.

Blasphemies and Bloviation is a thought-provoking collection that uses satire to talk about serious issues affecting us personally and as a society. Readers will see themselves in young men saving themselves to find their true love after chasing their dreams, two men who choose to duel after a misunderstanding, and in various individuals who encounter a reckless traffic accident. The stories are unpredictable and will take you to weird places like islands with tribes that do not wear clothes and an apartment with a door that should never be opened. They will take you on a wild ride but also teach you moral lessons about personal identity. Earl L. Carlson is quite realistic and brutally honest in his portrayal of life. There are many narratives in which he shows the conflict between social expectations of family and conformity against the personal longing for freedom and self-expression. One such aspect is the theme of art and dance, along with government regulations that appear not to work for the common man. Overall, the author encourages readers to question the certainty of their beliefs, to embrace the mystery of existence, to appreciate the aesthetic and conceptual dimensions of art and life, and to reflect on free speech and individualism. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in philosophical reflections, social commentary, speculative ideas about time, and stories with dark humor.

— Doreen Chombu, Readers’ Favorite Editorial Review

★★★★★ Blasphemies and Bloviation by Earl L. Carlson is a collection of short stories, most of which lean into a single act that redirects a life, or afterlife. In Siren Song at the Stanley, Cyrus Huxley sits in old age until a familiar song draws him back to a moment that fixed his path and calls him toward a final return. In Reflections of a Horrid Creature, a lawyer who serves eviction notices crosses a vacant lot and meets a being that alters his sense of duty and binds him to the place he once passed through. In Aesthetics Perceptual and Conceptual, a writer pursues a question about art and builds a claim that links perception to judgment through experience. In Three Days Hence, Ezekiel Qweeze answers a public insult with a formal duel that draws a village into a shared reckoning.

Blasphemies and Bloviation is the perfect title for this collection, although I admit I had to actually look up what the latter meant—bloviation now being my word of the day! Earl L. Carlson offers stories where the sacred and heaps of rhetoric mold into a series of brilliantly creative tales. The writing style is smart and sharp, and the author balances an inventive edge with visual, really entertaining storytelling. Picking a single favorite wasn't easy, but I finally settled on Guardian of the Green Door, where a landlady has a single rule: do not open that door! It's a forbidden space that reshapes the reader’s sense of place, using the unexplained and the strict warning to keep us guessing on whether he will or won't, and what happens if he does. Readers who enjoy fiction with a speculative, fantastical twist will love this anthology. Very highly recommended.

— Asher Syed, Readers Favorite, editorial review

★★★★ Blasphemies and Bloviation: Provocative Stories, Long and Short by Earl L. Carlson is a collection of 22 short tales with five satirical essays thrown in for good measure. Along the way, you’ll experience a current world leader as he dies but doesn’t realize it. You’ll also meet a hobo, sorry, a 'traveling man' (as there’s a difference), a Jesus dog, and two men who have (reluctantly) agreed to ‘pistols at dawn.’ There’s also a dying man who relives his glory days of dancing, and a war veteran who doesn’t understand why he left the battlefield. While some stories go the way you’d expect, others turn around and surprise you.

Earl L. Carlson's motive for writing this book is clear: he wants his readers to have a strong reaction to his stories. In the foreword titled ‘Blasphemies,’ he admits that he picks on many regions and doesn’t want to offend anyone, even if he probably will. I approached this series of short stories and essays with an open mind. Some I enjoyed, some left me a bit cold, and others left me a bit bewildered. As the title suggests, there will be some blasphemous content, and there sure is a lot of bloviation. Blasphemies and Bloviation: Provocative Stories, Long and Short isn’t a collection for everyone. However, for those who enjoy experimental fiction, attacks on things felt sacred, and stories that make you go, “What did I just read?” then this is absolutely for you.

— Stephen Christopher, Readers’ Favorite Editorial Review