Author Patrick Anderson Jr.’s Short Story Collection “Boiling Point” out now!

Author Patrick Anderson Jr.’s Short Story Collection “Boiling Point” Explores the Side Effects of Emotion Repression

Miami author and resident, Patrick Anderson Jr., recently released "Boiling Point," a 155-page short story collection that explores the actions of some extremely angry individuals. From a psychotic hit-man questioning a priest/mark on the meaning of life, to an abandoned astronaut staring at his lifeless planet, to an Iraq War veteran returning home to find everything he ever knew has changed, the characters in Boiling Point are all teetering on the edge.

“The overarching theme of the collection is something I didn’t really notice I was exploring until I saw the stories together,” says Anderson Jr. “It concerns this human divide between barbaric and civilized behavior in modern society. Like, we try so hard to stay refined, especially those among us who consider ourselves educated. We debate, pontificate, and try to use logic as much as possible throughout everyday situations, straining to control what’s going on inside of us, pushing our emotions away until they’re stacked in the garage of our minds like hostages. But eventually, given enough pressure, people always crack. Boiling Point explores those breaking points in the context of the characters within each story and the … unusual situations they find themselves in.”

Originally published in various magazines, including Prick of the Spindle, Sex and Murder Magazine, Ghostlight Magazine, Existere Journal of the Arts, The Washington Pastime, Writes for All Magazine, The Medulla Review, The Washington Pastime, and The Worcester Review (in which one of the stories in the collection—“Deserted”—was nominated for a Pushcart prize), each of the 10 darkly humorous stories in Boiling Point illuminate the human divide between civilized and barbaric behavior, and prove that—no matter the person—there’s only so much we can take before we break.

“Boiling Point” is available in print at Lulu.com, and in eBook format at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.com.

About Patrick Anderson Jr.

Patrick Anderson Jr. received his BA in English from Florida State University and his MFA in Creative Writing from University of Central Florida. Aside from the stories in “Boiling Point”, he has also pieces published in Silverthought, Miambiance, Midwest Literary Magazine, Bacopa Literary Review, and The Florida Review. A native of Miami, Patrick currently teaches English courses at Miami Dade College. Visit his website at www.PatrickAndersonJr.com