THIS IS THE DREAM

This is the Dream, ten stories less about dreaming than not dreaming. Ten stories about pulling free the gossamer mask of illusion and seeing the face of what has been true – about ourselves, about the people we choose to love, and about our path through the woods – from the very beginning.

JOHN. The bus driver whose lunchtime encounter with Andromeda reunites him with the one person he has spent a lifetime choosing to avoid. (“Everything Stops”).

WYATT. The Appalachian who wakes from a dream that his wife has been abducted by aliens to find that she has gone missing and wishing the explanation could be so benign. (“Little Green Men”).

RUTH. The chocolate-quality inspector whose compartmentalized solitude threatens complete suffocation until a renowned romance novelist reveals the paper-thin wall that separates despair and hope. (“Paper Walls”).

KATHY. The identical twin, so desperate to be original that she sacrifices her authenticity to a stranger on a plane, lying herself a new identity without any thought to the consequences. (“Failure to Thrive – Act One: Flying and Lying”).

KATJA and JUNE. The novelist and the reporter, bound by history, separated by an ocean, and united in a struggle to reconcile their own hearts one letter at a time. (“Failure to Thrive – Act Two: Katja and June”).

K.P. SORENSON. The convention speaker with a renewed hope of becoming a literary demiurge, looking for validation from an audience of would-be fans, but finding instead the very last man she expects and the only woman who can separate fact from fiction. (“Failure to Thrive – Act Three: The Birds”).

DANNY. The laid-off, newly separated factory worker whose life is in such dramatic contrast to that of his next-door neighbor, and George Clooney, that robbing a convenience store seems like his best option. (“Hating George Clooney”).

PETER. The teenager who, forced to spend Christmas in Hawaii with his younger sister, his parents, and the friends of his father not seen since college, discovers that reality is only a state of mind. (“Island Santa”).

ZOE. The Hollywood intern, working on a movie about a superhero with random powers, managing a telephone relationship with an anonymous criminal, and excavating the secret structure of creation. (“Random Man”).

CALI. The high school loner whose dreams of a dead classmate lead her to the razor’s edge between living and not living. (“This is the Dream”).

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In This Is the Dream, Owen Thomas leads us on a long and winding journey of the mind with intelligent prose that leaves us all looking inward for truth.

This Is the Dream is a collection of ten short stories and novellas that explore the depths of the human psyche, our desires, and our struggle for identity. Dreams, and our relationship to them, function as the recurring theme that binds Thomas’ stories together, but the subject matter of each narrative varies from story to story. Whether by a school field trip, a collection of letters, or a divorce, Thomas uses ordinary circumstances as a vehicle to communicate what’s beneath the veil of our mundane interactions and reflections thereof. Although the stories’ events are grounded, each one sees its characters reaching for something liminal.

Thomas’ collection isn’t as much about dreams as one might expect, and we’re all the better for it. Instead, he finds a way to do the impossible: he puts into words the otherwise indescribable, abstract connectedness that we feel to the lives we live while we’re asleep. The one that follows us into our waking life and calls us to ask difficult questions and dig beneath the surface. In other words, This Is the Dream is more concerned with the link between our dreams and our real lives –our subconscious. Thomas adroitly explores themes of identity and human desire, making them more accessible in his use of humor and his ability to ground those themes in his recurring device of the dream and the recounting of dreams, among other techniques. He dedicates the book to George Clooney, assuring he means, “no offense,” and immediately setting forth the light, tongue-in-cheek tone that persists throughout much of the collection and otherwise dense themes. His prose, however, is anything but dense. Although Thomas does employ long, often complex sentences, he manages to find a unique balance of both cerebral and physical, even playful, active language. In fact, his writing style perfectly mirrors his narrative approach to the metaphysical themes he is exploring throughout the collection. His sentences sometimes deceptively read like stream of consciousness while actually conveying rather cogent ideas and actions quite vividly. Conversely, he embeds rather straightforward, universal human truths in the seemingly indecipherable mess of the subconscious and the juxtaposition between who we are and who we think we are. The result is a unique narrative voice that forces the obscure into the light, suggesting that, perhaps, these ideas aren’t so arcane after all. In this way, Thomas appeals to quite a wide audience; with characters that stand on their own.

This Is the Dream presents ten unique stories and novellas, which each, in their own way, challenge readers to dig just a little bit deeper. Thomas’ rich narratives move you to feel something and, then, ask you to consider what it means to feel at all.

— MAINCREST MEDIA

John, a bus driver, has spent ages trying to avoid this one person, but his encounter with Andromeda brings them together at last. Peter discovers escapism from reality as he is forced to spend Christmas in Hawaii with his family and his father’s friend. Cali’s haunting dreams about a dead classmate bring her to contemplate crossing the razor’s edge to the other side.

Exploring the intricacies of our psyche, hidden desires, and the search for ourselves and meaning, This Is the Dream features ten unique tales about people’s internal and interpersonal struggles. Pulling back the curtain from our illusion and perceptions, this book shows us the unadulterated reality about the truth of who we really are. This Is the Dream by Owen Thomas is a remarkable collection of stories about normal individuals exploring the concept of dream vs reality. Focusing on the gray areas that make up our everyday lives, Thomas’s prose calls readers to pay close attention to the universe, ask deeper questions, and keep digging beneath the surface to uncover the threads, even fragile ones, that tie us to life. He deals with heavy subjects but maintains a humorous and easy-to-read tone that is sure to keep readers engaged through every page.

This book is a highly intelligent collection of fiction that captivates you from the start with well-paced stories and three-dimensional characters. It caters to a large audience with an exceptional narrative that moves readers to explore the hidden import of the tales. The stories are strangely familiar, unveiling emotions and feelings that haunt the human spirit in the gray moments of the day. Owen Thomas’s straightforward approach about profound topics eases the readers into realizing the misunderstood subconscious —why we do what we do, why we crave who we crave, and how our perceived self-identity differs from our real one. This book is a brilliant composition of literary pieces that are a gem readers will revisit after their first read.

— THE BOOK COMMENTARY

What Readers are Saying

“I can’t say enough about this literary journey; it was a celebration, and I absolutely loved it!”

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreams

“This book is fantastic! Owen Thomas is a fantastic author that is really captivating to read!”

Fred
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2021
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read

“I love it, would definitely read more”

Re St
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2021
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5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Collection

“This book is a very good and interesting collection of short stories. I enjoyed each one, and I found myself thinking about several of them after I put the book down. I’m looking forward to reading more from Owen Thomas.”

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful prose….authentic voice

“Stunning wordsmith….looking forward to reading more from this original writer”

M Garvin
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2021

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledgeable

“I just absolutely loved it. I don’t want to give anything away. A must read and have for your book collection.”

Sequana Moore
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Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2021

5.0 out of 5 stars Wanted more

“Love the different stories. It kept me wanting more. I would recommend this book.”

Michelle L
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Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2021

5.0 out of 5 stars Page turner

“I really enjoyed the different stories I love the short story format kept me interested and wanted to keep reading”

Z’Marie
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Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2021

Until.

The word that connects every story in this collection is until.

Ordinary people doing ordinary things and living ordinary lives: a bus driver, a farmer, a quality inspector.

Each character follows their path, a straight line from start to finish, until the moment where they veer off-track, dirt and gravel spraying, and their story really begins. Each story here seems to end at the beginning, with a new path freshly discovered. An infidelity discovered, or a fateful radio interview, or George Clooney drinking coffee on TV.

These stories are economical, words chosen carefully to show, not tell. The author is kind to his characters: they are flawed, but he handles them gently, exploring their emotions and motivations with a light touch. The dialogue is natural, real. It drives the plot. The problems each person encounters on their individual journeys are much like our own, and the ways they react ring true. It’s hard not to identify with them and to empathise with their struggles, to feel the pain of a missed chance at love, or the absence of a once-close sibling.

The stories in this collection are to be read one at a time, savouring each one and pausing before the next. Some will leave you feeling the pang of a past grief — feel that feeling — while others may invoke frustration, even anger, at choices poorly made. Still others feel like a call to action. All of them are small, pivotal moments, and all of them are good. Many of them are great. The problem is that every reader will love each story in a different way, depending on who they relate to the most. I can tell you my favourites, but they won’t be your favourites.

This is a book you can pick up anywhere, any time, and dive right in. Within the first few words you’re immersed. You’re invested. You care about these people and their ordinary lives.

They could be any of us. We have to root for them.

— THE CLOCK STRIKES 13