Barry Rachin


Biography

About the Author

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Barry Rachin spent several years stationed in Yokuska, Japan as a Navy medic caring for casualties during the Vietnam War. He has studied at the University of Jerusalem, lived on a kibbutz for a year and holds a degree in clinical counseling from Simmons College. A self-taught woodworker, he presently lives in Attleboro, Massachusetts with his wife and two daughters.

Books

Devotion    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3450 words. Published on May 8, 2013. Fiction.

Ralph Tucker is dating a woman who favors Orvis, genuine hornback crocodile belts. The dainty accessories retails for just under six hundred dollars. If Ralph’s romance blossoms, he’s going to need a second job.
Succotash    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2660 words. Published on April 5, 2013. Fiction.

Alexis Hamilton’s love life closely mirrors the comedy of errors in the E.M. Forster classic, A Room with a View. But where the fictional heroine, Lucy, elopes to Italy with her lover, it remains to be seen whether the Wellesley College graduate can pull off a romantic happy ending.
Logotherapy    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4300 words. Published on February 6, 2013. Fiction.

0.5 star(4.50 from 2 reviews)
Lauren, who tends the miniature horses at the 4-H club barn, is learning a lesson in the psychiatric subtleties of logotherapy from a fourteen-year-old students.
A Guide for the Perplexed    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2330 words. Published on March 20, 2012. Fiction.

In the rear of Levinson's Wholefood Market, the owner's son, Ernie, just told Shifrah Fienberg that he wants to marry. The emotionally irascible Israeli would have preferred a first date or dozen long-stemmed rose.
A Chinese Bar Mitzvah    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4290 words. Published on March 11, 2012. Fiction.

Harry Chen is persona non grata at the Goldberg's Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Problem is, Ida, the family matriarch won't attend without the Chinaman.
Switched at Birth    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4670 words. Published on February 6, 2012. Fiction.

Jason Mangarelli would invite Adrian Flanagan to Thanksgiving dinner, but his mother, who is familiar with the girl’s checkered past, disapproves. Perhaps it’s time Jason established his own family traditions.
The Celestial Cornet    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2250 words. Published on January 30, 2012. Fiction.

Samantha Malinowski possesses a useable range up to high F and screeches double C's for the sheer fun of it. When the high school band distributes new arrangements, the sixteen-year-old trumpeter plays through the music without missing a note. A born lead player with cast iron chops, Sam can read flyshit on toilet paper!
Sanitation    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2780 words. Published on January 27, 2012. Fiction.

Maria Santos, who just bought the Breakfast Nook, knows nothing about cross-contamination, pest control, immersion gauges or reduced-oxygen packaging. The new health inspector is every restaurant owner’s worse nightmare, but Maria needn’t worry. She’s got an ace up her culinary sleeve.
The Moribund Moose    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 6250 words. Published on December 8, 2011. Fiction.

Ruth Ostrowski’s midlife crisis hadn’t arrived in the normally prescribed manner. Rather, it snuck up on her incrementally, one negligible tribulation after another; it bushwhacked her with night sweats, sent her caterwauling toward menopause and the outer rim of her twilight years. Now, compounding her inner blight, the first frost, like a silver-haired, uninvited guest, blanketed the earth.
The Indigo Children    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4840 words. Published on December 1, 2011. Fiction.

The Seekers of Truth commune is just a tad too left of the loony bin to ever gain traction in a straight-laced town like Brandenburg, Massachusetts. Each whacky pursuit – iridology, crystal healing, spirit channeling, divination, I Ching, dervish whirling, Tarot Cards, reflexology, séances and scrying – only pushes the loose-knit clan further to the metaphysical margins.
Old Man, Old Woman    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 5590 words. Published on November 29, 2011. Fiction.

Phyllis Half Moon, a full-blooded Blackfoot Indian, knows all the tribal creation myths. During a camping trip in New Hampshire’s White Mountains she tells her future husband the tale of Old Man, Old Woman.
The Third Fairy Tale    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 8410 words. Published on November 17, 2011. Fiction.

Sixteen-year-old Ned Scoletti is travelling north on a Greyhound bus from Fort Pierce, Florida to Spaulding, Massachusetts, to visit Aunt Josie. Problem is, his mother’s identical twin sister died when Nick was just a toddler. Or maybe not.
A Middlemarch Reunion    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 7620 words. Published on November 1, 2011. Fiction.

At his high school reunion, Glen Stottlemeyer learns a thing or two about Victorian literature and finds a soul mate.
Leaky Pipes    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4430 words. Published on October 25, 2011. Fiction.

Bartholomew Schroeder, a recent widower and retired plumber, can sweat pipes and fix broken toilets, but, on a weekend excursion to Martha's Vineyard, can he mend a teenage girl's broken spirit?
Hummus    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 7760 words. Published on October 20, 2011. Fiction.

Seventeen-year-old Sonny Gossage is infatuated with Naomi Shamir, the Israeli woman who lives down the street. He wants romance; all she can offer is a plate of hummus and occaisional babysitting job.
The Lesbian Thespian    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2350 words. Published on October 4, 2011. Fiction.

Herb Wanamaker and Kit Calhoun share a mutual disgust for the light-skinned Negro who never cleans up after her Great Dane at the dog park. For the lonely widower and lesbian actress it’s a textbook case of Jungian synchronicity.
I & Thou    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2460 words. Published on October 3, 2011. Fiction.

Since going on birth control in middle school, Celeste has been on a bit of a lascivious tear, but all that sexual carnage is coming to an abrupt halt when she meets the Hassidic Jew.
Hieronymus Bosch's American Landscape    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3710 words. Published on September 8, 2011. Fiction.

Bethany Glaspell approached the first-ever meeting with Great-uncle Vern, a man who returned from the jungles of Vietnam with a Hmong bride and warped personality, much as a cat burglar might plan his next heist, telling no one, neither friend nor family, her intentions.
Cupid ain't Stupid    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2830 words. Published on September 6, 2011. Fiction.

Lenny slept with Elsie McGivney, a woman so dim-witted she can't make change or hold down an entry-level job. Lenny bedded the chucklehead but got no sex in the bargain. So why is he going back for more?
Nagel's Bagels    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3580 words. Published on August 11, 2011. Fiction.

There are five levels of gifted intelligence ranging from bright to profoundly gifted. One in every thirty thousand is 'exceptional', which makes Curtis Stedman, the part-time dishwasher at Nagel’s Bagels, one smart cookie!
The Fire Flower and the Bee    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2140 words. Published on August 9, 2011. Fiction.

Bear wants thumbs just like his arch-enemy Man, but Heveki, the benevolent, Siberian spirit, has something else in mind.
The Kidnapped Bride    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4270 words. Published on August 5, 2011. Fiction.

Maddie Etheridge's train wreck of a marriage at Boston's Plaza Hotel cost forty thousand dollars. It only lasted thirteen months, which matriculates out to a hundred bucks a day not including the Samoan honeymoon, restraining order or legal fees.
Circus Maximus    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2180 words. Published on July 25, 2011. Fiction.

Buddy Hazelton, chairman of the Brandenburg College philosophy department, quit his job to join the Waverly Brothers Traveling Circus. Later today, the authority on Ludwig Wittgenstein's linguistic theory is being shot from cannon.
Bodacious Bimbos    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2960 words. Published on July 25, 2011. Fiction.

Helen Garfunkel, an unemployed reference librarian, is contemplating a romantic tryst with a hotdog pushcart vendor.
The Reluctant Bigamist    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 7900 words. Published on June 28, 2011. Fiction.

Mickey Pisludski wears a chain of armor piercing, machine gun shells around his thick neck. The week after his Army discharge, he bored the quarter-inch holes in the soft, brass casings, later threading the bullets together on a length of rawhide. Like so many gold, sharks teeth, the shells fanned out across a khaki T-shirt with a gash under the left armpit.
A Room without a View    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 7630 words. Published on June 23, 2011. Fiction.

Thirteen-year-old George Weiner is in love with Sade Richardson, whose father beleives Negroes deserve reparations. A Room without a View - it’s Romeo and Juliette with an ethnic twist.
Twin Souls    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 6010 words. Published on June 14, 2011. Fiction.

Beatrice Goldberg doesn't much like Hispanics, biker broads, Franciscan monks, skinheads, or even salt-of-the-earth blue collar types. But she is going to get a double dose of each, when she visits Our Lady of La Salette Shrine in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Twin Souls is a collection of quirky, short stories about people trying to make a go of it in a decidedly user-unfriendly universe.
Narcissus and Goldberg    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2000 words. Published on May 5, 2011. Fiction.

Beatrice Goldberg doesn't much like Hispanics, biker broads, Franciscan monks, skinheads, or even salt-of-the-earth blue collar types, but she is going to get a double dose of all of the above, when she visits Our Lady of La Salette Shrine in Attleboro, Massachusetts.
107 Degrees Fahrenheit    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 5740 words. Published on April 15, 2011. Fiction.

(4.00 from 1 review)
A young boy spends a magical weekend with his sister, a former collegiate track star crippled in a freak accident. During the visit he learns a poignant lesson about the resilience of monarch butterflies and the human heart
A Work in Progress    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4230 words. Published on April 11, 2011. Fiction.

(5.00 from 1 review)
Tawana Saunders is writing the great American novel. Problem is, six months into the project, she’s only got a rough draft plus three lousy paragraphs.
Failure to Launch    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3010 words. Published on April 4, 2011. Fiction.

(3.00 from 1 review)
Fred Linden, who just celebrated his silver wedding anniversary, is fixing his daughter, Alison, up on a blind date. The meddlesome hospital administrator won't settle for anything less than wedding bells and rice.
The Way Station    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3420 words. Published on March 25, 2011. Fiction.

Clarice Copparelli intends to seduce Jason Devlin. The seventeen-year-old boy had sensed this from as far back as a year ago, when he started doing odd chores for the middle-aged, single woman. He just doesn’t know when or how or where it will occur or the likely circumstances. Soon, he hopes.
Bawdy Bodies    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4420 words. Published on March 17, 2011. Fiction.

Every woman Ernie Summers ever dated had a fatal flaw, which is why he is taking an indefinite sabbatical from the opposite sex. Well, maybe not.
The Chiropractor's Assistant    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 98600 words. Published on February 7, 2011. Fiction.

Epistemology - When Ronda Wickford, the assistant manager of Brandenburg’s ShopRite Supermarket, inadvertently hires a middle-age man with a PhD in philosophy to run the fresh produce department, weird things begin to happen. As events unfold, she learns a thing or two about Wittgenstein’s linguistic theories, common decency and how to fix a leaky faucet.
Fun with Dick and Jane    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2230 words. Published on February 1, 2011. Fiction.

(5.00 from 1 review)
Dick wants fun. He has no dog. He has no cat. No Spot. No Puff. But he has a plan. See Dick board the plane. See Dick fly away. Far, far away. Hello happiness! Goodbye Jane
Gandhi's Goat    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 5840 words. Published on January 25, 2011. Fiction.

Mrs. Chowdhary named her youngest daughter after Saint Theresa, the Little Flower of Jesus. Unfortunately, Terry has more in common with Attila the Hun than her nineteenth century namesake.
Small Favors    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3710 words. Published on January 20, 2011. Fiction.

0.5 star(4.50 from 2 reviews)
Marcie Callahan’s parents run around the house in their underwear. They belch and fart and do all sorts of gross and disgusting things. The Callahan clan doesn't have a stitch of class, culture, brains or social graces. Which is why Marcie is ready for a change.
Sextillions of Infidels    by Barry Rachin
Price: $0.99 USD. 3500 words. Published on January 7, 2011. Fiction.

(1.00 from 1 review)
Hazel and Jorani are stranded in the boondocks of Maine with a broken-down car and ton of teenage angst.
Kissing Cousins    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 79840 words. Published on January 4, 2011. Fiction.

Small Favors - Marcie Callahan’s parents run around the house in their underwear; they belch and fart and do all sorts of gross and disgusting things. They don't have a stitch of class or culture or brains or social graces. Which is why Marcie is ready for a change.
Supermarket Sadhu    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 6260 words. Published on December 13, 2010. Fiction.

Seventeen year-old Fanny Jackson, who works aisle three at the ShopRite market, wants to become a twenty-first century mystic – a supermarket Sadhu.
Six Catholics and an Atheist    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4080 words. Published on December 6, 2010. Fiction.

(2.00 from 1 review)
In an increasingly hedonistic universe, Kirsten Hazelton clings to her Catholic faith. But can the hospital discharge planner hold her own when Dr. Wong, an osteopath at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital, confronts her with his own extreme beliefs?
The Reticent Storyteller    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 4200 words. Published on November 29, 2010. Fiction.

Parker Salisbury is dating a girl with the social graces of a cigar store Indian. So why is he giving Lilly an engagement ring later this evening?
A Key to Paradise    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 42720 words. Published on November 19, 2010. Fiction.

(5.00 from 1 review)
Grace Paulson’s train wreck of a personal life takes a turn for the better when the elementary school teacher meets a gifted artisan whose handmade jewelry boxes are featured at the local museum. Well-versed in nineteenth century Russian literature, Carl Solomon also happens to be the school janitor.
Legal Procedures    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3710 words. Published on November 16, 2010. Fiction.

Phoebe’s Aunt Janet, who has been married six times, is advising her niece on affairs of the heart. Good Luck Phoebe!
The Unfinished Face    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3720 words. Published on November 9, 2010. Fiction.

(4.00 from 1 review)
Dora's face, an aesthetic work in progress, exuded an unfinished blankness - as though God had become distracted and wandered away from the wet canvas before completing a meager handful of details.
Tulipwood    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 6220 words. Published on October 17, 2010. Fiction.

Kendra Ryder just gave fifteen year old Frankie Dexter a slab of fresh-cut tulipwood along with the advice, "When you’re feeling bad, just scuff the wood with 120-grit sandpaper, grab a whiff and you're guaranteed to feel a whole lot better!”
The Abode of Infinite Compassion    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 3710 words. Published on October 4, 2010. Fiction.

Marty Humphrey has trouble finishing things. He just dropped out of college, and previously, a European backpacking adventure was abruptly cut short, when he became morbidly homesick on the flight across the Atlantic. Maybe the mystic-minded Rose O'Donnell can help Marty sort things out.
Thyroids, a Love Story    by Barry Rachin
Price: $0.99 USD. 3210 words. Published on September 29, 2010. Fiction.

(1.00 from 1 review)
Can two young lovers with thyroid conditions - one in traditional therapy, the other holistic - find happiness together?
Mustard Fields    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 6840 words. Published on September 21, 2010. Fiction.

(4.00 from 1 review)
Maddie Timberland just read A.E. Coppard’s The Field of Mustard. She plans to reread the sublimely beautiful story over a bottle of wine and then find a lover like the rustic gamekeeper, Rufus Blackthorn, to share her bed. The middle-aged woman already has someone in mind.
Still Virgin    by Barry Rachin
Price: Free! 2030 words. Published on September 14, 2010. Fiction.

(2.00 from 1 review)
A year out of high school, Clarissa, who couldn't even score a date for the senior prom, is into tantric sex, Pablo Neruda and orgasms bordering on divine rapture. And she's still a virgin!
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