The rumors spread by the Camp's inmates, other Nazi officers, and the Kommandant's own family insist that she was his "mistress", but was she, voluntarily? Told from three different perspectives - that of the formerly idealistic Kommandant, the young Jewish inmate who captivates him, and the ostensibly objective historical biographies of the protagonists - this novel examines one troubling moral question over and over: if your staying alive was the only "good" during the War, if your survival was your sole purpose in this horrific world of the Concentration Camps - whether you were Nazi or Jewish - what, exactly, would you do to survive? Would you lie, cheat, steal, kill, submit? Flashing back and forth through the narrators' memories as they recall their time before, during, and after the War, and leading, inevitably, to their ultimate, shocking confrontation, "Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique make [this...

Awards Short story Collection Naked, with Glasses, Grand Prize, UKA [United Kingdom Authors] Press International Writing Competition, 2007 "Naked, with Glasses," 3rd Prize, "Seven Deadly Sins Contest," Story Magazine, 1995 About Naked, with Glasses (award-winning short stories) As in Szeman's other work, the universal themes of family, love, loss, loyalty, and betrayal are visited in this collection as well. Edgy, memorable, and engagingly written, these award-winning stories display another aspect of Szeman's talent — that for short fiction. Filled with distinct voices, unique characters, surprising plot-twists, and successful experimental writing innovations, this prize-winning collection secures the author's critically acclaimed reputation in this genre as well, adding to the accolades she has already garnered for her novels, poetry, and non-fiction. (formerly writing as "Sherri")

Revised & Expanded, Legally & Medically Updated, 12th Anniversary Edition When Claudia Sloane is arrested for the murder of her mother-in-law, everyone is stunned, especially her husband Sam. Claudia loved Eleanor as if she were her own mother and would never have hurt her. At least, that's what Claudia insists. But even Sam begins to wonder how far Claudia would go in the name of love: did she help the terminally-ill Eleanor commit suicide? Upon first marrying Sam, Claudia thinks she's found the "happily ever after" life she's always dreamed of. She has an affectionate and devoted husband, and in Sam's mother, Eleanor, the orphaned Claudia finds the mother she's longed for. The perfect family soon crumbles, however, as Eleanor descends into violent & unpredictable emotional eruptions, physical attacks, protracted silences, incontinence, even suspected suicide attempts. Soon, the money saved for other projects, including children and family-businesses, is depleted taking...

About Where Lightning Strikes The poems in this collection revisit the classic themes that have inspired poets for generations: love, passion, betrayal, doubt, loyalty, despair, faith, and survival — this time in the context of the period before, during, and after the Holocaust with its systematic persecution and extermination of the majority of European Jewry by the Nazi regime. Szeman's themes, though set, in this collection, around the Holocaust, are universal, encompassing the perpetrators', victims', and survivors' perspectives equally insightfully. Though the line-breaks are syllabic — imitating the arbitrary rigidity of the Nazi persecutions as well as of the concentration camps' operations — the language flows passionately over the artificially imposed line-breaks and formal stanzas. The poems' many fans often state that, despite the fact that they may have been initially wary of the subject matter, they were enthralled and shaken by poetry which so clearly & memorably portrays such...

About Love in the Time of Dinosaurs (award-winning poems) Love in the Time of Dinosaurs includes all Szeman's non-Holocaust poetry from 1983-2010. Many of the poems begin with a narrator's or character's questioning his expectations of life versus the reality s/he encounters. In the section Portrait of the Poet as a Woman, the poems, firmly grounded in everyday objects and people, examine marriage, children, and family relationships; eventually expanding the narrator's or character's view to include the universal human condition, especially that of women. The narrators of all the family dramatic monologues speak poignantly of our desire for acceptance and love, of the fear of betrayal, of loneliness and isolation even when within a relationship, as well as of treasured moments of love, happiness, and desire. Imaginative depictions of mythological, literary, and biblical characters' lives frequently appear. Szeman's themes are universal, encompassing the perspectives of men and women, adults and...

In a post-Z-fected world, Jake is just an ordinary guy, although slightly more educated and a bit better looking than most young men his age. He has a good job, a nice car, a great apartment, and a relatively pretty girlfriend. He knows all about how to protect himself from the Zombies who would eat the brains of every uninfected human on the planet if their own Z-fected brains functioned any longer and they could figure out how to get past the fence barricades that separate the two groups. Jake has his life all planned out — at least, as much of your life as you can plan when Zombies have been in existence, attacking and killing humans, for several generations. When he unexpectedly becomes so severely ill that his job, relationship, and life are in jeopardy, he's supremely grateful to the girl who steps in to nurse him. Though...

The relationship between the Kommandant of a Nazi concentration camp and the Jewish woman inmate whom he forces to become his "mistress," is revealed from the perspectives of both protagonists, as well as from ostensibly objective biographical encyclopedia entries on each. First edition. Harper Collins 1993. Formerly published as Sherri Szeman.

The relationship between the Kommandant of a Nazi concentration camp and the Jewish woman inmate whom he forces to become his "mistress," is revealed from the perspectives of both protagonists, as well as from ostensibly objective biographical encyclopedia entries on each. Second edition (includes translations of opera excerpts). Arcade NYC, 2000. Formerly published as Sherri Szeman.

After growing up in foster homes, Claudia has found the perfect life with a devoted husband and loving mother, but her new world is turned upside down when her mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a situation that becomes worse when her mother is found dead and Claudia is charged with murder, in an engrossing tale of terminal illness, love, and the struggle for acceptance. 22,500 first printing. First edition. Arcade NYC, 2000. Formerly published as Sherri Szeman

First edition. Story Press / Writer's Digest Press, 2001. Formerly published as Sherri Szeman.

The rumors spread by the Camp's inmates, other Nazi officers, and the Kommandant's own family insist that she was his "mistress", but was she, voluntarily? Told from three different perspectives - that of the formerly idealistic Kommandant, the young Jewish inmate who captivates him, and the ostensibly objective historical biographies of the protagonists - this novel examines one troubling moral question over and over: if your staying alive was the only "good" during the War, if your survival was your sole purpose in this horrific world of the Concentration Camps - whether you were Nazi or Jewish - what, exactly, would you do to survive? Would you lie, cheat, steal, kill, submit? Flashing back and forth through the narrators' memories as they recall their time before, during, and after the War, and leading, inevitably, to their ultimate, shocking confrontation, "Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique make [this...

French Translation The rumors spread by the Camp's inmates, other Nazi officers, and the Kommandant's own family insist that she was his "mistress", but was she, voluntarily? Told from three different perspectives - that of the formerly idealistic Kommandant, the young Jewish inmate who captivates him, and the ostensibly objective historical biographies of the protagonists - this novel examines one troubling moral question over and over: if your staying alive was the only "good" during the War, if your survival was your sole purpose in this horrific world of the Concentration Camps - whether you were Nazi or Jewish - what, exactly, would you do to survive? Would you lie, cheat, steal, kill, submit? Flashing back and forth through the narrators' memories as they recall their time before, during, and after the War, and leading, inevitably, to their ultimate, shocking confrontation, "Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique...

Norwegian edition The rumors spread by the Camp's inmates, other Nazi officers, and the Kommandant's own family insist that she was his "mistress", but was she, voluntarily? Told from three different perspectives - that of the formerly idealistic Kommandant, the young Jewish inmate who captivates him, and the ostensibly objective historical biographies of the protagonists - this novel examines one troubling moral question over and over: if your staying alive was the only "good" during the War, if your survival was your sole purpose in this horrific world of the Concentration Camps - whether you were Nazi or Jewish - what, exactly, would you do to survive? Would you lie, cheat, steal, kill, submit? Flashing back and forth through the narrators' memories as they recall their time before, during, and after the War, and leading, inevitably, to their ultimate, shocking confrontation, "Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique...

Swedish Translation The rumors spread by the Camp's inmates, other Nazi officers, and the Kommandant's own family insist that she was his "mistress", but was she, voluntarily? Told from three different perspectives - that of the formerly idealistic Kommandant, the young Jewish inmate who captivates him, and the ostensibly objective historical biographies of the protagonists - this novel examines one troubling moral question over and over: if your staying alive was the only "good" during the War, if your survival was your sole purpose in this horrific world of the Concentration Camps - whether you were Nazi or Jewish - what, exactly, would you do to survive? Would you lie, cheat, steal, kill, submit? Flashing back and forth through the narrators' memories as they recall their time before, during, and after the War, and leading, inevitably, to their ultimate, shocking confrontation, "Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique...

Spanish Translation The rumors spread by the Camp's inmates, other Nazi officers, and the Kommandant's own family insist that she was his "mistress", but was she, voluntarily? Told from three different perspectives - that of the formerly idealistic Kommandant, the young Jewish inmate who captivates him, and the ostensibly objective historical biographies of the protagonists - this novel examines one troubling moral question over and over: if your staying alive was the only "good" during the War, if your survival was your sole purpose in this horrific world of the Concentration Camps - whether you were Nazi or Jewish - what, exactly, would you do to survive? Would you lie, cheat, steal, kill, submit? Flashing back and forth through the narrators' memories as they recall their time before, during, and after the War, and leading, inevitably, to their ultimate, shocking confrontation, "Szeman's uncompromising realism and superb use of stream-of-consciousness technique...