Milk and Oranges is a collection of short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition. Whether she is tackling fiction or essays, Charlene Wexler writes from the heart. With a keen eye for detail and a way of looking at the world a bit sideways, her writings in Milk and Oranges will entertain while they make you think.
Milk and Oranges is a collection of short fiction and essays by award-winning writer Charlene Wexler that examines life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition
Whether she is tackling fiction or essays, Charlene Wexler writes from the heart. With a keen eye for detail and a way of looking at the world a bit sideways, Wexler’s writings in Milk and Oranges will entertain while they make you think.
In Milk and Oranges, Wexler’s fiction and essays are grouped in five categories.
How’s Your Love Life? features two fiction pieces that will cause female readers to nod their heads in agreement as well as a warm essay on Wexler’s feelings for her husband, Sam.
The Cruel Club features both essays and fiction on the tragedy of the death of a child. Wexler has been a member of the Cruel Club since 1981.
In Family and Friends, you’ll meet some of the fun characters in Wexler’s life and in her fiction, and inevitably you’ll think about similar loved ones in your own world. The story "Milk and Oranges," from which the title of this book is derived, appears in this section.
What would life be without our animal pals? Wexler shares some stories about four-footed friends and loved ones in Animal Magnetism.
The Passing Parade features Wexler’s fiction and prose observations on the changes in our fast-paced world.
After reading Milk and Oranges, you’ll see why Wexler’s first novel, Murder on Skid Row, was honored with a 2010 International Apex Award for Excellence from Communications Concepts, a writing think tank outside Washington, DC. Her style makes you feel as if you are reading about or talking to dear friends.
Milk and Oranges is a collection of stories that will pluck at your heartstrings and tickle your funnybone.
Wexler’s essays and fiction have appeared in several magazines and newspapers and on various websites. Her short story Abracadabra Magic, which appears in Milk and Oranges, received a "Very Highly Commended" rating in the AuthorsDen.com Tom Howard Prose Contest, 2009.
Excerpt
“Where are my oranges and my milk?” my husband, Sam, asks.
Sam had just come home from the grocery store and was unloading the bags. Agitated because some of his purchases were missing, he was looking for them by scrambling through grocery bags, upsetting things in the refrigerator, and finally moving items around in the car--all to no avail.
“Are you sure you bought them?” I ask. “Where’s the bill?”
He handed me the receipt.
“Yeah, you paid for them,” I say. “You probably left them on the cart again.”
“You go back and get them; you’re better at it than I am,” he says, as he handed me the bill and the car keys.
Are you and your spouse having these kinds of conversations daily? Or are you having this one with your kids? “Mom, you told me that story already. What’s wrong with you?”
Then you must be over 60. These are the years when the wires in the computer in your head are getting rusty, and you begin to wonder if you could be getting Alzheimer’s or dementia.
You’ve been going religiously to a stretch class, walking around the block every day, eating those damn fruits and vegetables, and taking handfuls of vitamins. You’ve been putting up with backaches, sore knees, and sugar cravings just to keep your body young. Now it dawns on you: a young body is no good if it has no mind!
“Are you going?” Sam asks.
Out the door you go. On the way to the grocery store you decide to stop at the bookstore. When you get there, you stand in the middle of the store bewildered. The clerk asks, “May I help you?”
You look at her with a blank stare. Your mind goes through the alphabet, desperately seeking a book title.
Suddenly, it dawns on you. You are almost embarrassed to tell the clerk you are looking for a book to improve your mind.
You walk out of the store euphoric. In your hands is a book that will help you keep your mind young. You look around and think, “If only I could find the car, my day would be great.”
Your cell phone rings. It’s your best friend. She has just seen a great movie and she is busy telling you about it. When you ask her the name of the movie, there is silence. Finally, she answers, “I don’t remember.”
You refrain from saying, “You just saw it last night.” Instead you say, “I’m so glad you are my friend.”
You get in the car, and with a smile on your face, you drive home. You walk into the house. Your husband rushes over to you, and has only one thing to ask:
“Where’s the milk and oranges?”
Professional Reviews
Like Dear Friends
Char Wexler's style in Milk and Oranges makes you feel as if you are reading about or talking to dear friends. Milk and Oranges is a collection of stories that will pluck at your heartstrings and tickle your funnybone. Enjoy!
Char Wexler has two books of essays and short stories about life, Milk and Oranges and Elephants in the Room. She is a keen observer of life, and these are both books that anyone can enjoy and that will have you nodding your head in agreement.
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