Sillies, Fancies, and Trifles

“To discern the beauty of this book, we need to pay close attention to ‘the great listener’ and ‘the great sower.’ We must search through ‘the great city’ in order to discover ‘the great love.’ We must be humble enough to endure ‘’being a cake,’ ‘being a tree,’ ‘being a rod,’ ‘being a fruit,’ and ultimately ‘being a doll.’ Then, as if beholding a slow, yet sudden daybreak, seeing the light emerging through darkness, we can ‘look up, see, and enjoy a flower, or a tree, or a butterfly, or the sun, for what they are!’”


—John Chryssavgis, senior advisor and theologian, Inter-Orthodox Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations





“In his first collection of short stories, Peter Kostoglou emerges as a fascinating storyteller. Motivated by the magic of words and the power of love in its multiple manifestations, he transports us into the age of innocence where reality effortlessly merges with fantasy rendering anything possible.”


—Anthony Dracopoulos, associate professor and chair of modern Greek and Byzantine studies, University of Sydney





“The reader’s attention will immediately be captured by the charming and captivating world introduced by Peter Kostoglou’s short stories, with their intriguing and mystifying characters, all of which convey remarkable and profound insights for true human flourishment. The enthralling worlds imagined in this collection of short stories will not only entertain, but leave readers uplifted—if not enlightened—by the striking beauty of a world conceived when seemingly ‘ordinary’ and ‘mundane’ moments, or time-held principles, are reassessed, and transformed into present instances of extraordinary grandeur and magnificence.”


—Philip Kariatlis, sub-dean and associate professor of theology, St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College