Email the Author
You can use this page to email Gerald M. Weinberg about Feebles for the Fable-Minded.
About the Book
For many years, I've insisted that I don't care much for short stories–and that's why I don't write them.
Well, all these years, I've apparently been fooling myself. Not only do I like (some) short stories, I adore them. Not only that, but I write them.
How could I have been so wrong? When preparing this collection, I just realized that *fables are short stories*–and I've always loved fables.
Looking back over my reading experiences, I think I see now why I love fables so much: They have a moral, a point–a reason for existing and taking up my time.
In other words, fables are short stories containing lessons. Other short (or long) stories may or may not contain lessons. Those that do contain lessons–and teach them well–those are the stories I like best.
I am not saying I don't like stories that don't contain lessons, stories that merely entertain. I like being entertained. But if I'm reading for entertainment, I don't want the entertainment to be over in a minute or two. No, I want hundreds of pages of entertainment, so I like many novels–but only if they're at least 400 pages long. The longer the better.
Anyway, I now confess that I do indeed like (some) short stories–so much so that I've actually written many of them. And most of them are fables, the stories I love. In case you don't believe me, I've produced this book, with more than a dozen fables from my collection. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
- Jerry Weinberg, Corrales, New Mexico
About the Author
I've always been interested in helping smart people be happy and productive. To that end, I've published books on human behavior, including Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method, The Psychology of Computer Programming, Perfect Software and Other Fallacies, and an Introduction to General Systems Thinking. I've also written books on leadership including Becoming a Technical Leader, The Secrets of Consulting (Foreword by Virginia Satir), More Secrets of Consulting, and the nine-volume Quality Software series.
I try to incorporate my knowledge of science, engineering, and human behavior into all of my writing and consulting work (with writers, hi-tech researchers, software engineers, and people whose life-situation could require the use of a service dog). I write novels about such people, including The Aremac Project, Aremac Power, Jigglers, First Stringers, Second Stringers, The Hands of God, Freshman Murders, Where There's a Will There's a Murder, Earth's Endless Effort, and Mistress of Molecules—all about how my brilliant protagonists produce quality work and learn to be happy. My books that are not yet on Leanpub may be found as eBooks at <http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JerryWeinberg>; on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B000AP8TZ8; and at Barnes and Noble bookstore: http://tinyurl.com/4eudqk5.
Early in my career, I was the architect for the Project Mercury's space tracking network and designer of the world's first multiprogrammed operating system. I won the Warnier Prize, the Stevens Award, and the first Software Testing Professionals' Luminary Award, all for my writing on software quality. I was also elected a charter member of the Computing Hall of Fame in San Diego and chosen for the University of Nebraska Hall of Fame.
But the "award" I'm most proud of is the book, The Gift of Time (Fiona Charles, ed.) written by my student and readers for my 75th birthday. Their stories make me feel that I've been at least partially successful at helping smart people be happy.