Release of Death of a Blind Chicken
By Benedict Herrman
I am extremely pleased to announce the release of my new book, “The Death of a Blind Chicken and Other Stories from a Buddhist Farmer in Texas.” Some of you heard me read a few pages at last year’s National Congress and gave it a delightful welcome — now here it is in its entirety, thanks to SICA, who provided a generous grant; Morris McClellan, who was my recording engineer for the audiobook; and my son, Michael Herrman, who wrote the music, mixed and mastered the sound, and was largely responsible for creating the book cover. He also got it on to Amazon by fitting it into their multiple technical requirements… no small feat.
The story isn’t so much about Buddhism per se, but about how love, compassion and decency can change the paths of those who receive it. The characters are mine, but the basis of the story is from real life. My wife, Aminah, has a sister in Texas who is a Buddhist, along with her husband. They invite monks there to teach, feed deer, and have chickens, and they did, in fact, have a blind chicken, now deceased. They related the story of their chicken to us on a road trip from Nevada to northern California, and I knew I had to use it somewhere. They asked what I would call the story, and out of the blue the words, “The Death of a Blind Chicken and Other Stories from a Buddhist Farmer in Texas” escaped my lips.
The characters are cast in the Lake Woebegone mold to be sure, but the flavor is pure Texas BBQ. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please tell others. If you don’t, please tell me!
A few reviews of the book thus far:
“Amazing! Best story I’ve ever read, and that’s no lie!” – Abraham Lincoln
“A perfect piece of literature, relatively speaking…” – Albert Einstein
“Chickens cause autism!” – RFK, Jr.
“All that love and kindness…ugh!” – V. Putin
“Is there any more cheese?” – Me, filling up the quotes section
“I may not agree with your story, but I will defend your right to print it…but don’t quote me…” – Voltaire
You can find all three platforms of Death of a Blind Chicken – kindle, printed book, and audio book mode– by following this link:
I’d like to add my brief critique in praise of Blind Chicken: “it read very quickly in one sitting, laughing all the way – this short story is a hoot, or rather, a cackle – keeping with the metaphor that Benedict maintains throughout.”