‘m aware of Burrow Press, the local literary core for Orlando. They produce a number of books for this market, very local. You almost get the idea that deals are made in coffeehouses, and discoveries are made on poetry reading nights. Yes, I’ve read a number of their books, and enjoyed them, in general.

Other Orlandos was an ambitious idea – publish short stories that involved Orlandos outside the city of Orlando, be it places, people or whatever. Okay. To me, I have an attachment to place more than to name but I gave it a try anyway.

There were a couple of good ones in this collective but I’m sorry to say that the balance of them were either too eclectic or too arty for me to decipher. Sure, there is the character from As You Like It but I’m not familiar with the piece to understand the point. Still, there were some standouts – I liked the story where the actor Orlando Bloom interacts with a character in a waiting room, reviewing her life. And the one set in Orlando, Oklahoma was outstanding – I looked the place up (and shuddered at what a wreck it is). There was also an interesting story about some sort of Orlando Power Plant in South Africa.

So overall, my reception to this was cool. A lot of the stories I gave up on (since I wasn’t sure what action was even taking place). Possibly I’m a mass-market consumer boob. But this collection didn’t light any fires under me.

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