Steve Tomasula. In & Oz.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

Steve Tomasula. In & Oz. Ministry of Whimsy, 2003. 144 pp. $25.00.

Steve Tomasula's star is rising fast in and out of the fringe genres of the fantastical, the surreal, and the experimental. His name has been appearing in a variety of venues, from fiction to criticism; everything, from where the watching eyes are sitting, looks commendable and assuring. His second book, In & Oz, moves like a finely tuned, well-oiled car through the cloudy landscape of whimsical American letters. In, we're told right off, is a place of mean, snarling, dirty dogs, while Oz is a place of police and sheepdogs. Likewise, In is where Mechanic lives and works on his cars, while over in Oz a woman named Designer blueprints the look and feel of cars. When they finally cross paths ... well, how can they not make beautiful music? Or is that the task of Composer? Their worlds--cities or universes--are connected by the ...