The Variable Man

About the Book

Driving home in the night, Hubert is surprised to see a mysterious light hovering over his car. Scared, he pulls up in his driveway and sees the light beaming down on his garden, irradiating it. Through this light the Prime Matter People direct Hubert to eat a midnight meal of collards cooked with greasy ham hocks whereby he is given supernatural powers enabling him to become invisible or the man or monster of choice, a black or white skeleton. ‘Borrowing’ from an armored truck so he can fight crime from a Harlem town house, he applies his powers for good, mischievously.

About the Author

Hugh Walter Nelms, novelist, short story writer, essayist and song writer, lives in New York City. Thanks to David Ignatow, he has been published in Chelsea. He has traveled in Europe, lived in Tangier, Vienna, and Fabriano, Italy. Though not a performing artist, he is classically trained, having received his music degree from the Chicago Conservatory, a double major in piano and composition. He also has a bachelor’s degree in English, De Paul University; a Master’s in Educational Psy- chology, New York University, where he did extensive work on an unfinished Ph.D. He is a semi-vegetarian, briskly walks two miles several times a week.