The 60-Second Novelist (with Autographed): what 22,613 people taught me about life

The Story

In 1983, Dan Hurley took his 1953 Royal typewriter onto Chicago's Michigan Avenue to begin writing what he called '60-Second Novels.' Thinking it would be a one-time lark, he offered to interview passersby and write a story inspired by their conversation. The response changed his life: people lined up to pay $5 per story, pouring out their stories as if he were a confessor or Dear Abby. He quit his job as an editor to travel the country in search of stories, eventually writing the life stories of over 22,613 people (and counting!), from Chicago to New York, Hawaii to Florida, on a Times Square rooftop and eventually on his #1 writing site on America Online. Hurley has listened as children and crack addicts, the homeless and the famous, confessed their secrets and a lifetime of wisdom: the real-life truth about love, fame, money, health and happiness. Now at last he tells all in The 60-Second Novelist: What 22,613 People Taught Me About Life Crazy but true, funny and inspiring, these novels in a nutshell will make you laugh, cry...and learn the wisdom of the ages in the blink of an eye. The book includes over 100 photographs and 60 of the original stories reproduced exactly as they were tapped out on his typewriter, typos and all for Vanna White, Tom Brokaw, and thousands of people you've never heard of, including: a New Jersey family who miraculously survived the 1990 Avianca plane crash; a homeless man living in a Brooklyn dumpster on Christmas; Iowa hog farmers who welcome Dan into their lives; a little boy on his first day of kindergarten, who wants to grow up to be 'a bird;' a Detroit crack dealer who protects Dan from local thugs; a Chicago woman who slaps Dan because she doesn't like her story; a World War II soldier who fell in love with the photo of a hometown girl he'd never met --and ended up marrying her; two young women on leave from a Manhattan psychiatric hospital. Possibly the most amazing true story of the book is Hurley's own: how he went from sidewalks to cyberspace, while becoming a 'performance writer' at posh parties, department stores, colleges and trade shows. Weaving his odyssey with the 60-Second novels he wrote along the way, The 60-Second Novelist will touch you forever.