The Jitney

The True Tales of Bad Benny Taggart, a new novel by Timothy F, Schmand.

We meet Benny Taggart when his anger erupts as a student in a middle school just outside of Buffalo, New York. His explosive reactions to bullying and brutality propel him through the portal of a failing juvenile 'justice' system. Here Benny perfects his “bad” persona, masking insecurities which are only compounded by a devastating tragedy. Thrust toward adulthood with a few missing pieces, we follow ‘Bad’ Benny on an odyssey to find a father he never met, following clues he may have imagined, all of which point toward Miami. Benny Taggart becomes Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield seen through Alice’s looking glass. This late 20th century American coming-of-age journey is far from a straight path. Faced with larger-than-life danger and confronted by mysterious folk he never could have imagined, Benny wrestles his way toward whatever adulthood may bring. Filled with a cast of unique American characters, The True Tales of Bad Benny Taggart is a fast-paced journey from betrayal through violence and danger…toward an unknown future.

Headz the Trilogy is the definitive novel chronicling the culture of music festivals. First published in 2011, it features a diverse cast of rebellious American characters from New York, San Francisco, and Miami. The book follows their journey across the country to Chicago for Oracledang! -- the biggest and baddest festival of the summer. Once there, paths converge for an event none of the characters will soon forget and a concert only a few will get to see.

Tour offers an overview of the main historical, cultural and popular elements that have shaped the city of Miami.

Where were you in 1999?

Matt Traxler was living in Davis, California, out of college and heartbroken. When his occasional pot dealer Jay Rasco suggests moving to Miami, Matt figures he has nothing to lose. After packing up his Peugeot station wagon they drive cross country and discover Florida is as friendly and familiar as any other alien planet. Through hurricane warnings and paranoia that Y2K might change it all, the duo search for adventure, romance, meaning, and Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth.

1999 was a time when a missed phone call could mean everything. An era when superstores ruled the earth and sometimes it took two whole minutes to log on to the internet. It was a time when everyone thought maybe, just maybe, the world might change forever. It was...

The End of the Century.

Third Trinity is an innovative and exciting book. Inside you will read three versions of the same story: a screenplay, short film and play.

A directionless and unreliable college freshman goes on a quest to make life into art in obsessive and creepy ways. An inmate in a confinement cell writes a letter to his ex, explaining a bizarre occurrence. Santeria, love, magic, and memory are explored from Kendall to Little Havana. A night’s hellish adventure for one suburban hoodlum comes full circle. A war story is shared at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s detox unit. A father somehow entangles his scat fetish with his child. The dissolution of a Halloween party in Wynwood ends with a crossbow. And a tale that involves two friends, a boat, the Gulf Stream, dolphins, necrophilia, and an overdose of LSD are among the thirteen stories found in Missing, a collection born and raised in Miami.

Reduce Heat Continue To Boil is more than a coming-of-age story of an engaging protagonist and the city she lives in. It attempts to re-brand Miami for the 21st century.

The Sunshine Chronicles is an inventive compilation of Facebook posts by local writer and professor, Jan Becker. Shockingly delightful, and unflinching in their candor, the posts reveal an intimate portrait of a quirky writer and her South Florida surroundings. Readers will simultaneously LOL and find themselves deeply moved as Becker navigates domestic life with The Chef and Feline amidst a zany cast of neighbors and characters. From Creepy Maintenance Men with tawdry agendas, and annual invasions from snowbirds like The Winemaker and Grandma, to struggling through the summer with no AC in the car, The Sunshine Chronicles is a unique glimpse of both a small slice of Florida, and one woman's outlook on the world-at-large. You will "like" this book.

Nobody slings a yo-yo like Benny James. Behind the back, through the air, between his legs, suspended at a hundred and twenty-degree angle, he's sold out arenas nationwide wowing and kapowing audiences with his yo-yo. But still there’s a hole in Benny’s heart. He just can’t get over the girl who got away. And no amount of fame, fortune or after-hours masked crime-fighting will ease that pain. But as Benny navigates his weird world he learns life really can be like a yo-yo. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it's down, and sometimes it smacks you right in the face.

"A universe where a hopeless romantic yo-yo champion crime fighting vigilante can sell out Madison Square Garden. Who knew?" J.J. Colagrande, author of Decò 2.0

Just Johnson  Populated by Miami’s fits and misfits, Just Johnson: The London Delivery traces the exploits of our hero -- Johnson -- a driver and delivery man for Stephen Teitelbaum (aka The Fat Man) the 490 pound criminal mastermind who manages the remains of Meyer Lansky’s Miami Beach operation. Johnson's live-in, bi-sexual and hypersexual girlfriend, Alexandra Cohen (aka Al), is a marketing consultant whose employment takes her to London. She asks Johnson to join her. To afford the trip Johnson arranges a delivery for one of The Fat Man’s many friends.

From London to Miami and back, Just Johnson: The London Delivery is a rumbling, unstoppable freight train of a tale. Although bouncing between the 80s and mid 90s of Miami, this novel confirms that some things will never change in this city. Miami is weird, weird, weird – and that’s why we love it so.