by Lorne Shirinian
Memory's Orphans is a new collection of short fiction from Lorne Shirinian that explores the themes of
memory and forgetting in eleven stories. Below is the table of contents followed by the second of two
prefaces to the collection.Memory's Orphans (2002)
ISBN 0-920266-14-2
101 pages
$15.00
Table of Contents
Preface 1...1
Preface 2... 2
Hide and Seek...5
Extras ...10
Julia’s Decision...24
Armenian Tourism...32
Hotel Diaspora...49
Delirian 2002 ...53
Contemporary Armenology...58
Mistaken Identities...66
The Chaotic Haven of Final Dreams/ The Final Haven of Chaotic Dreams... 77
Memory’s Orphans...91
Krikor, the Cobbler... 100
Preface 2
There are so many things I have to tell you. If only you will listen. At times, I become desperate. I
do strange things when you turn away or make excuses. I don’t recognize myself. I go to work every
morning and program software or tune car engines, order supplies, set stones. I tell you I do strange
things. I meet people on busy street corners. Slip messages to passers-by. I make phone calls from
noisy booths. Slowly, I gather material. Lots of it. Things you would never guess.
Let me tell you. It’s not easy. I’ve turned my cheek enough times. I don’t want to go underground.
There’s still time. Constant movement. Camouflage. Assimilation. The pat on the back. The old
bob-and-weave. Duck. Jab. Jab. Hook. There still might be time.
Do you want to know what it’s about? Really? All right then; let me tell you; then you can judge for
yourself. Then we’ll see where we stand.
I’ll tell you right off this isn’t a nice story. Not the kind of thing certain writers would write: a quest
for father and motherland motivated by necessary principles. And of course the history book in hand to
help you comprehend the damage throughout the centuries. The necessary guides and helpers to take the
reluctant heroes to the climactic moment, a desirable and satisfying accommodation with the right
emotional release. The rapid denouement for the dead. Let’s go home. I’ve done my duty. Now for the
rest of my life. I’ll tell you right now this isn’t going to be like that. That’s not the way it happened.
