Tragic Mind

Some books emerge from a lifetime of hard-won knowledge. Robert D. Kaplan has learned, from a career spent reporting on wars, revolutions, and international politics in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, that the essence of geopolitics is tragedy. In The Tragic Mind, he employs the works of ancient Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, German philosophers, and the modern classics to explore the central subjects of international politics: order, disorder, rebellion, ambition, loyalty to family and state, violence, and the mistakes of power.

The legend of the Ozark Howler is as old as the mountains themselves, the bloody tales of terror, mutilation, and murder a foundation block in the region’s folklore. Skeptics dismiss the Howler as nothing more than tall tales and the work of overactive imaginations, but those who have seen the monster tell a different tale. Carter Renfrow is hiding from his past and living the life of a wanted man when a multi-car pileup interrupts his plans, and two worlds collide in an epic clash with life and death hanging in the balance.

Tragedy is one of the greatest challenges to resilience, and the ability to be resilient is a defining characteristic of a hero. In these two short tales, author Michael Haase takes a concise and focused magnifying glass as two different heroes face ultimate tragedies in their lives. Two different types of resilience are explored, and both ask the listener to consider their own choices in the face of tragedy.