Essays

 The theater is a little rougher than you might think.  Deer hunting takes on an obsession.  Between big cities and little towns, big cities are in some ways the more conforming.  How Chicken Little prospers.  A tribute to failure.  And what's with these bearded fellows who shave their upper lips?  Plus more... 

 Why look at just the leading edge of contemporary thought, when you can look at all the edges.  Take a flaneur's stroll about the perimeters with our author.  Learn how to swat a fly, how best to kill a suffering creature, generate pleasure, succeed in life, pursue a career in art, earn money from home, outsource your personality, and much, much more. 

When the trees have something important to say, they tell the squirrels, who then tell Carl, who spends much of his time in the backyard looking up and thinking.  This is a record of that conversation, some of which was first published elsewhere and on his Substack: barkingsquirrel  at, carln.substack.com

Read about experiences in the theatre, medicine, home repairs, marriage, Appalachia, literature and elsewhere.