Life & Other Passing Moments — V.J. Banis / Victor J. Banis

"In this collection of shorter pieces, Victor J. Banis demonstrates once again the astonishing breadth of his talent, covering virtually every facet of the human experience with astonishing brevity and clarity. Here are pathos and heartache, love and horror, irony -- and humor, especially humor, dry and wry and roll-on-the-floor-clutching-your-sides funny. It would be a hard man indeed who could read the adventures of his Underground Diner -- which take up much of the last half of the book and aptly skewer the ubiquitous and often pretentious food writing column -- without guffawing aloud.

""The really top-notch writers are rare birds indeed, but their works merit rereading again and again. Victor Banis is definitely a member of this exclusive club. You need go no further than the first paragraph in this new collection of tales and reminiscences to relish the magic of his pen. He sets the tone, grabs the eye, and rivets the reader right to the page. And he's funny -- ha, ha, I mean, not peculiar -- I swear that I've eaten at some of the places reviewed by The Underground Diner, including a houseboat restaurant run by a distant cousin of mine in Tennessee.""

-- from the Introduction by Robert Reginald."