Fifteen Minutes: A Novella

By Mark Connelly

Growing up in the shadow of the Chrysler Building in the Sixties, George Sabro hungered to enter the world of the rich and famous he watched on television. A series of events in the Seventies led the Times Square bartender to become a paid lover, celebrity photographer, Studio-54 semi-regular, and briefly a millionaire. Now reduced to washing dishes in a coffee shop, George is desperate to get his fifteen minutes of fame before turning fifty. Hanging up his apron, he picks up a cereal box, walks onto Sixth Avenue, and starts taking hostages.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1881515834
• ISBN13: 9781881515838
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Texas Review Press
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

almost believable in an only in New York kind of way

Fame comes to those who seek it, but also, sometimes, to those who are chosen by others to experience it. In "Fifteen Minutes," by Mark Connelly, those fleeting moments of fame are the goal after a lifetime of being just out of reach. George Sabro washes dishes at a coffee shop. Growing up, he wasn't exactly doted upon by his mother. The military taught him to be a good bartender; life taught him to take chances, but to be ready to hit bottom. He learned that one the hard way. For a brief time he was a millionaire, but now, he has intimate knowledge of how to handle the Kleen Genie dishwasher at work. Nearing 50 years old, George wants desperately to enter that bubble of fame-dom. With a cereal box bomb, he takes hostages, picked ever so carefully for the dramatic effect he seeks, and sits in an abandoned store in NYC. Geraldo Rivera tells the world about it. Will George find his fame? Will he do something with this power to better the world, even for just five people? Time will tell, with video footage on the eleven o'clock news. Author Mark Connelly offers a unique and interesting tale of what desire can do to a person. His writing is tight and well thought out, obviously planned to perfection. His plot and the character's reflections back to the past, feel real and flow with natural fluidity. His sense of timing is apparent as the story is almost believable in an only in New York kind of way. Very well done! Review by Heather Froeschl