Sampler: Fifty Short Stories

Conventional wisdom holds that story collections should have a theme. In this way, this book is unconventional. The fifty stories in this collection are wide-ranging. Some are serious, others light. Most are gentle, but a few are disquieting. There are fantasy, spirituality and politics here. Many of these stories are slices of life. Most are short. All are an invitation to think more deeply.

If there were ever any doubts as to whether Don Tassone could make a successful transition from corporate executive to a creative storyteller, he’s put them to rest. In Sampler, Tassone glides effortlessly between humor and melancholy, politics and romance, sharing his wisdom through the vessel of the narrative. Contemporary anecdotes like ‘A Little More Conversation’ contrast with timeless ones like ‘Barefoot, ’ yet all 50 short stories in this collection share a common bond: they stimulate the mind. - Dominic Vaiana, writer, marketer

After a long career in the corporate world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots, living his passion for the written word which first led him to earn a degree in English. Sampler is his fourth book. The others are Drive, a novel, and two other short story collections, Get Back and Small Bites. Don also teaches at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four children.