4A Smell of Time is a collection of short stories that spans seven decades, starting in the fifties and ending in the present day. The stories within each decade capture the feel, the smell, and the spirit of the times, not as academia or the mainstream media would have us view it, but as real people felt it who lived through these times. The stories range in depth from poetic childhood memories, to kids experiencing the JFK assassination, six grade girls breaking up with their boyfriend, marriage in the sixties, seventies radical chic, college vainglory, coming of age in Chula Vista, the heartache of a young couple, exploits in bar-hopping, the enduring battle of the sexes, parents dealing with adversity, yuppies on parade, office voyeurism, a high-tech rite of passage, the political correctness of owning a business, screenwriters gone off the rail, and a tribute to granddaughters. It's large in its breadth and scope, mixing humor, drama, tragedy, and irony over a sixty year span of American history. The worldview throughout these stories is a deeply conservative one, influenced by the writings of Tom Wolf, George Gilder, and Thomas Sowell, as well as the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre. It transcends the newspeak of the cancel culture, celebrates the ecology of gender, and shouts to the heavens that what matters-the truth that endures-has always been right in front of us and can never be destroyed. Guy Franks was born in Minnesota but grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is married with two children and four grandchildren. A writer most of his life, he is the author of three historical fiction novels Beggar King, Railhead, and A Midsummer Madness. He and his wife currently live in Oregon.