In 1983, an aspiring author left his steady job as an editor and set up his Royal manual typewriter on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, with a sign offering "60-Second Novels Written While You Wait". Sixteen years and 18,223 novels later, the Sixty-Second Novelist compiled a collection of stories that share the wisdom and wonder he has encountered as a result of meeting so many people in so many situations. From Chicago to New York, California to Hawaii, Maine to Florida, the author traveled across this country collecting and crafting his miniature slices of life. These stories are as varied and as rich as people and life. He tells the stories of children and drug addicts, the homeless and the famous, schizophrenics and astronauts, mayors and murderers-- each of them with heart and soul and passion, each of them with a unique story to tell. Some of the stories reflect the individual's view of her own life, others are parables the author created in response to the person's life situation, all celebrate the magic of so-called "ordinary" life.