Amazon Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: iUniverse ISBN-10:  0595151647 Type: Fiction Pages: 201 Copyright: Dec 1 2000 Rarely Well-Behaved is an eclectic collection of short stories which reflect the formative influences of the author. In three parts, Rarely Well Behaved will give you a glimpse into an intimate family history, a future that could be troubling, and a genre unusual for a woman author. An Irish midwife who performs abortions to feed her children. An angry boy bent on protecting the mother who rejected him. A victim of crime who wants her own brand of justice. A young girl struggling against the American version of apartheid in a possible future. A UN spy who constantly has to choose between her work and her personal life. A mother who asks forbidden revenge for her son. You'll find all this and more in "Rarely Well-Behaved." These are stories not shy of controversy and definitely not politically correct. Read them, and you'll know where the author stands; but you'll no longer be sure of your place in her world. Think about them, and you'll see the other side of many, current political and social issues. These stories aim to disturb you but in a way which makes you think about things you'd prefer to leave in a closet and definitely not bring up at parties. The rarely well-behaved characters in this book will lean you to familiar but troubling places. Excerpt From "What's In a Name?"--"When it was all done, a warden lost her job and went to a prison of the maximum security variety for manslaughter; the guards who had beaten a young mother to death for not prostituting herself joined the warden there; several judges and state legislators had to resign when their names were found in the warden's client book; and a state senator who had told me to change a damning report lost her bid to be governor. The everyday citizens of Virginia, so disdained by the landed families, love honesty above all, and they do love to see the mighty fall. The governor who had exposed the whole thing went on to be the first African-American U.S. Senator from Virginia. Oh, and I lost my job with the State Senator long before she lost her election. But I still have my good name, except that my friends and the family I'm still burdened with now call me, "Governor Pearce." From "Giving the Dead Back Their Names"--"Hume had asked how she could be so certain of the number of victims the Serbs had bulldozed into mass graves around Srebrenica, and she had answered that she'd been there. Seen most of it. Able to stop not of it. Mai shook her head. When those thoughts came into her mind, the butt of her gun fit too neatly into her palm, pressed too quickly against her temple. She was one person. One person cannot stop an army bent on destroying an ethnic enemy, as she well knew. She was half-Irish, after all. No, she could be at peace tonight, knowing that Dr. Hume's work would lay all her ghosts of Srebrenica to rest and return to the dead their names. Except for the constant companion of her waking and sleeping hours--one boy, playing soldier, who now lay alone and forever unnamed in a grave no one would ever find."

Rarely Well-Behaved
Have you ever picked up a book and just knew by the cover that it was going to be filled with some of the best work you read in a while? That is how I felt when I received "Rarely Well-Behaved." It gave off the essence that inside I would find creative work that will leave me gasping for more, and Duncan fulfilled this promise completely. "Rarely Well-Behaved" is a collection of this author's thoughts, actions, and beliefs. Her strong will is shown in each and every single word written. Each story is stronger that the last, and each minute I know I have met a very powerful author who knows where she stands in this world. Duncan's straight-forward introduction lets you know exactly what kind of stories you're going to find inside her book--stories about her family, stories about her dreams and hopes, and stories that relate to strong women who take nothing from anyone--besides themselves. What I highly appreciated about this book is that though the first few stories relate to family members, Duncan relates them in a story form that holds her readers' attention. In fact, the very first story is what captured me. I read it before I did the intro and had already thought well about the character. I then scolded myself for not starting at the beginning, and when I did read the intro and found the character I felt so much for was once a real person, I was pleased and knew I had my hands on an important book. After Duncan relates "folk stories," she goes into one of her favorite genres of writing, science fiction. Her tales in this genre are interesting and highly appealing, mainly the story dealing with someone controlling the Earth as a "game." Very original and will be sure to please any sci-fi fans out there. Then Duncan changes genre range to a "spy tech" story telling. I am not a big spy tech person, and it takes an excellent written book to keep my attention in this genre, and I must say, Duncan did that, and I would like to see her take these characters and make a full-length novel with them. If there is one collection of stories that you buy, I highly recommend this one, and watch for this author in the future; she has the making of a top ten best seller if she continues to write like this. Danielle Naibert, The Book Reviewer Site, www.thebookreviewersite.com

Rarely Well-Behaved
Reviewed by Diane Morgan, Editor, New Book Reviews www.newbookreviews.com What a literary treat! "Rarely Well-Behaved" is an exceedingly well written collection of short stories by Ms. Duncan that truly exhibits her talent as a writer. The book is broken into three parts. At the beginning of each part, Phyllis shares with the reader the background of the stories and the time they were written; she also shares insight into her own mindset at the time and the development of the stories. This personal touch adds tremendously to the stories she has presented us with. Some of the stories leave the reader with a sense of eeriness, but the frankness and harsh reality that the characters are faced with are so very real in her writing. There are messages within the stories, lessons learned, but the main thrust of the stories even though they are unrelated is choices and the fact that each character is faced with choices. Most of them face those choices as their own and deal with it however harsh the circumstances are. No fairy tales here, no happy endings just to satisfy readers, this book is closest to everyday reality than one I have read in a long time. The fact that it is so well-written adds so much to the pleasure of reading it. Want a dose of reality? Here it is buldled up in a literary gem.