Tyrannia and Other Renditions — Alan DeNiro

In these 11 stories -- and the weird spaces in between -- men, women, and monsters struggle to free themselves from conventions and constraints. Landscapes ranging from the farthest reaches of outer space to a sinister and abandoned farmhouse in the middle of nowhere become battlegrounds in which personal and political change comes at enormous cost.

Tyranny takes many shapes: Some more subtle than others. In these stories, DeNiro's characters -- a telepath, two college students, a writer of political thrillers, the bio-engineered, carnivorous art form Roxy: Shark * Flower -- improvise and create their own renditions of freedom.

Alan DeNiro is a poet, novelist, and short story writer whose extraordinary and exhilarating second collection explores our relationship to art, history, and the political sphere.