Saint Nick
by Fred Tribuzzo
Paul’s trendy spiritual ambitions have guttered, leaving him a burned-out, middle-aged bankruptcy lawyer. Now it’s almost Christmas, and the spirit world has decided to take Paul firmly in hand. Three iconic Native Americans of the nineteenth century, Black Elk, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, challenge Paul to a dream quest: no guarantee of safe return. It’s going to be a rough ride.
Fred Tribuzzo is a professional pilot who has flown aircraft from the J-3 Cub to the fastest corporate jet ever made-the Citation Ten. Currently flying a Boeing 737 Business Jet, his trips can range from thirty minutes to ten hours. It was on the far side of the world that he wrote Saint Nick.
Picking up a dog-eared copy of “Black Elk Speaks” from his bedside table sets off a chain of events that awakens memories of his childhood and propels Paul into an alternative world where his heroes — Black Elk, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse — become flesh and blood characters. Each, in turn, challenges Paul’s cynical views, forcing him to see his life for what it is. But will Paul see the light, admit his faults, and find the courage to reverse a lifetime of cynicism and selfishness?
Trubuzzo’s writing style crisply moves the story forward, creates an eerie atmosphere in his dreamworld scenes, and provides a nostalgic view of Midwestern snowfall, last-minute holiday shopping and Christmas dinner with family.
A good read in any season, this seventy-three-page novella, with its Christmas message of redemption, promises to provide solace amid the harried holidays as well as an inspirational stocking stuffer for the book lovers on anyone’s gift list.
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