The Zoo, a Going:
(The Tropic House)
fiction by J. A. Tyler

REVIEWS
“At its most essential, The Zoo, A Going : (The Tropic House), is a flash fiction collection that is a telling from a young boy's perspective of his family going on a trip to the zoo, each story titled with a different animal exhibit ('The Turtle,' 'The Butterflies,' et cetera). But what is at work in each narrative is something deeper, something that speaks to transference. ... Tyler, in this chapbook, finds a voice and renders it authentic. His stories do what good writing should do, and operate from a solidly rooted perspective that is carried through consistently. The Zoo, A Going : (The Tropic House) is ultimately about the heart, something every reader can connect with.”
—Prick of the Spindle

“In only 23 pages, Tyler gives us a mélange of Freudian and probably Jungian symbols, and just plain cursing and speaking, that help this neurotic little kid figure out how he fits in with his folks and the animals. The cover, designed by Anna Mutzes of Birdfish Studio, is just what the little volume needs—an old fashioned drawing of a woman, man, and boy’s eerily embodied-looking clothes resting near blue striped wall paper, as if for a photo, without any heads, feet or hands…”
—Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene

“Tyler perfectly captures youth and the learning that is constantly taking place.”
—What to Wear During an Orange Alert?

BLURBS
“Tyler is asking, through his stories: What is it to see the words that cover a thing instead of seeing the thing itself? Why do we have to name a thing in order to see it? Why do we constantly obliterate what’s there in front of us in order to resurrect it in our imaginations as something altogether different? He asks these questions in a good way, a way that continues to quest, rather than seeking to obliterate the questions with answers.”
—Ken Sparling, author of Book and Dad Says He Saw You At the Mall