The vicious stories of Dino Parenti deserve a special place in the pantheon of boozer fiction. Although only one of the stories we present here involves crime, all of them have the gritty style you'd expect from the very best mystery and crime magazines. You'll find his stories grueling and intense.
Dino says, "I started writing about ten years ago, did it for two years then gave it up for reasons I don't know. I picked it up again two years ago and in between that time I think I've helped my cause by reading more books, plays and short stories than I can count. I've become particularly fond of--for lack of a better term--the "hardboiled" voice. It's the one that just seems to flow from fingers with the least amount of strain. Before I tried to emmulate the more elegant prose of writers like Fitzgerald and Poe, but found it taxing and thouroughly phony on my end. I've told people my opinion of what writing should do and have used this same explanation with slight variations: I think of words as blunt tools--objects to bludgeon the brain and get people to pay attention. That's not to say there's no place for subtlety, but I believe hard-hitting writting has become sort of a dying art.
"I have no formal writing training and have only been published in college publications. I have a Bachelor's degree in architecture but would very much like to write fiction, theater and films for a living. I am currently working on two short films and a feature." You can write to Dino at dparenti@pacbell.net.
Dino's works here at Unlikely Stories are:
2001:
Triple Threat
July 1999 - July 2000:
Re-Runs
The Night the Lights Went On
Out with the Old
Mr. Angel (available as an Acrobat file)
Because Mr. Angel is quite long, an Adobe Acrobat file is provided so that you might conveniently print it out. Please understand that Dino Parenti owns the copyright on Mr. Angel and you do NOT have permission to distribute it. In order to use the Acrobat file, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.