Modicum

Scott Semegran

Sep 2017 · Mutt Press

About this ebook

This collection of short stories, musings, and cartoons by award-winning writer Scott Semegran explores such themes as parenting, pets, religion, masculinity, and the apocalypse. In the story titled The Butterfly Effect, a father watches his daughters lovingly care for a squirmy gang of caterpillars. When they morph into butterflies, the girls witness the true meaning of life. Another story finds little boy Rogelio playing with his friend George in the ditch behind his house. Rogelio's mother is glad he has a friend to play with until she finds out George's true identity. In the story In My Garage, a group of friends make a pact that they will spend the last night before the end of the world partying in the garage. And that's just what they do, creating their own mayhem on the eve of the apocalypse. This collection runs the emotional gamut from endearing to hilarious to twisted and is guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, or both at the same time.

 

Praise for Modicum:

 

"Funny, sweet, dark, and sad, Scott Semegran's comics and short stories create a wholly convincing world of love, loss, and fear. His light touch with heavy subjects is a gift, and his forays into silliness are a delight. I can't tell if his kids should read it as soon as possible, or never." - Emily Flake, cartoonist and author of LuLu Eightball. 

 

"Hilarious, poignant, twisted... and those are just the stories. Scott Semegran's cartoons bring an added one-two visceral punch to a powerful collection of work." - Davy Rothbart, author of The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas and publisher of FOUND Magazine.

Ratings and reviews

All is not lost

About the author

Scott Semegran is an award-winning writer of nine books. BlueInk Review described him best as “a gifted writer, with a wry sense of humor.” His latest novel, The Codger and the Sparrow (TCU Press, 2024), is a comical yet moving story about a 65-year old widower’s unlikely friendship with a 16-year old troublemaker. His previous novel, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island, is about four middle school friends who sneak away to an abandoned lake house to evade the wrath of high school bullies, only to become stranded on the lake’s desolate island. It was the First Place Winner for Middle-Grade/Young Adult fiction in the 2021 Writer’s Digest Book Awards. His novel, To Squeeze a Prairie Dog, was the winner of three book awards including the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medal for Humor. Other books by Scott Semegran include Sammie & Budgie, BOYS, The Spectacular Simon Burchwood, The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, Modicum, and Mr. Grieves. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, four kids, two cats, and a dog. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English.

Scott Semegran is co-host of the web series Austin Liti Limits along with fellow award-winning writer Larry Brill.