"A Novel In Stories" (2013)

All eleven short stories from Mark Steele's harrowing collection "The Most Important Thing Happening."

Oct 31, 2024

I have always been a fan of the strange and macabre tale, of the surprising and out-of-nowhere plot twist. For years, I didn’t feel like I should dare put these sorts of stories in front of my readers - though I personally frequented the thrills on the pages of Stephen King and Robert R. McCammon.

Ten years ago, I finally exercised that muscle when I wrote “THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING: A Novel In Stories,” which was published in 2013 by David C. Cook. TMITH is a collection of eleven dark, tantalizing, other-worldly and introspective tales that seem startling and sometimes terrifying each on its own - but when the jigsaw puzzle of the tales are all woven together, there is surprising hope - an allegory for the sum of our difficult days into something noble that is worth living (or perhaps dying) for.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING” was an absolute thrill to write - and I received some of the best (and worst) reviews of my career. Here are a few of my favorites:

A FANTASTIC FEAT OF LITERATURE (5 Star Review)

This book is not your typical fiction in the best way. It contains my favorite blend of non-linear storytelling, grammatical wit, seemingly unrelated events colliding, and TRUTH in the bigger story being woven throughout its eleven chapters. It's so well written that discovering the hidden jewels in this treasure chest doesn't happen until the middle of the book, when the timeline almost folds back on itself. It's then you see the seeds meticulously planted along the first five chapters. In the vein of Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Lost, Crash - you aren't going to be spoon-fed the bigger picture, message, or even the plot. It's the discovery of how the individual parts make up the whole that makes this such a rewarding reading experience and dynamic feat of literature. If you find yourself perplexed in the beginning, KEEP READING. It has such a satisfying payoff. Edgy and engaging, The Most Important Thing Happening abounds with relevant metaphor to glean wisdom and challenge perspective. Perspectives that need to be challenged. Mark blurs the lines effortlessly between what I expect from Literature vs. Contemporary Fiction. Well done.

IMAGINATIVE, CHALLENGING, & CONVICTING (5 Star Review)

As a whole, this imaginative and intelligent surrealist novel breathes new life into a challenging and convicting modern day parable. More of the individual stories stand on their own strengths than those that don't, and even the latter pay off later in the novel when collisions between stories become more apparent. I want to gripe about meta fiction and stories about Story, but I just can't. Mark Steele has done the unthinkable and come up with something new even with them. If you're looking for fiction that blows the lid off your imagination while inspiring you to see beyond yourself, look no further.

WEIRD WEIRD BOOK (5 Star Review)

This book wasn't at all what I was expecting. It reminded me of the Night Circus, Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti, sci-fi, fantasy, the Twilight Zone, and so much more--all rolled into one overarching novel with a number of seemingly random stories. I read through it in one sitting, and trying to figure out the depth to the theme of the story was what kept me going. That and I loved the author's style of writing descriptions, particularly of social media and of one woman who mumbled in run-on sentences. Such a creatively odd story that will keep you pondering and thinking long after you're done with it. It's a fun book and a haunting one too. I really can't describe it without spoilers, and even if I tried, I couldn't do it justice. Let the author speak for himself and get a copy of this book to read. How he keeps all his subplots together is really astounding and memorable. Don't let them sidetrack you into putting this book down once you pick it up. For while you're reading it, it will be The Most Important Thing Happening.

ABSOLUTELY FLOORED (5 Star Review)

This novel laid me bare. I found myself searching my own heart for my shortcomings, my fears and insecurities, and the Hope for them. I was confronted with the human condition in the best way that humans learn--story. This was a thrilling read that surprised me, page after page. Mark Steele's clever layering of plots and subplots and symbolism still have me thinking almost a week after finishing. I cringed during Blah, Blah, Blah. I teared up in 99 Pages (Somewhere in the Middle). The way everything fell so neatly together was just beautiful. I couldn't put the book down. Ingenious. Well done.

VERY CREATIVE MIND-BENDER (5 Star Review)

Take the imaginations of Rod Serling and Thomas Pynchon, mix in the humor of Dave Barry and the wisdom of C.S Lewis and you have "The Most Important Thing Happening.” Reading this refreshing and entertaining novel is like enjoying a Twilight Zone marathon! These short stories weave together to make one of my favorite novels of the year. Not a lot I can say without spoiling parts of the book, except that there's a paper monkey involved. Highly recommend!

WOW (5 Star Review)

It has been a long time since I read a book this bizarre, funny, poignant, mysterious, and profound. It hit me in the gut like Til We Have Faces or the Brothers Karamazov. Read it, people.

NOT FIT TO READ (1 Star Review)

This book was totally weird, with references to things that the average person would probably not understand, at least not at first. The main character is obsessed with material things and does not care what it may cost to get whatever it is he wants, and that means cost to him or to any one else. I only read the first chapter before I stopped reading it because the content became extremely offensive to me because of the graphic detail involved. I would not recommend reading this book to anyone.

I especially love that last review, because it reminded me that when we are at our best creatively, we are also at our most unique - which means for as many readers who embrace our work, there are going to be just as many who loathe it. And, that’s just fine. Because if I ever write anything that pleases absolutely everyone, I probably won’t be very proud of what it took to achieve that.

To this end, I am making the entirety of “THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING: A Novel in Stories” available HERE on the Mark Steele Archive (for a limited time).

If you’ve read it before, dive in again and find new twists, mysteries, and metaphors. If you’ve only experienced a story or two from it here at the Archive, do yourself a favor and start over at the very beginning. If you’ve never read any of it, put off by its inevitable darkness, consider it again. You might just learn something about the light vs. dark battle going on inside of you.

Here are brief descriptions and HYPERLINKS to all eleven stories, in the order that they are meant to be read. ENJOY!

“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING: A Novel In Stories” by Mark Steele

OZ. OF GOD

This first story introduces Sebastian du Guere, a con artist running away from his own doom. Hiding out from the law in an abandoned carnival tent, he encounters an unnamed dark stranger with a bandaged hand and a patch over his eye. The two barter over a strange but monumentally valuable item: “a mere taste of God.” The only question: what will it actually do when consumed?

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING

The namesake tale of the collection introduces us to the Man in the Blue Jean Jacket who observes history by - well, I’ll just let you read it.

blah blah blah

J. Aaron Epsom has his opinions - and millions agree with them as they laugh at his nightly news comedy broadcast. The words coming out of his own mouth are as precious to him as his followers, which creates a problem when a date gone wrong utters a three-word curse over his life. A curse that may censor J. Aaron permanently.

THE WHIPPERSNAPPER

Conrad Reed has a highly-coveted job. As a high-level technician at XtraX Corporation, Conrad has the opportunity to have any one factor from his life removed: hate, regret, grief, a painful memory - anything. It is a procedure that each human can only handle once, and only the elite are offered the shot. But, Conrad didn’t choose to work at Xtrax for this golden opportunity. He has other plans in mind.

NOTES FROM THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE: the Mark Steele Archive

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