The Voices In My Head.

They say versatility is one of the hallmarks of a great writer, and I would add verisimilitude — despite his incomprehensible choice in football team, Charlie Stella has added another incredible work to his already-bursting catalog. This “fictional memoir” is the perfect antidote to a culture awash in carefully curated BS, in which we hide the warts of life behind photoshop and photo filters. If you’re interested in the story of an incredibly interesting life told with unflinching honesty—even despite its label as “fiction”—then go out and get this book ASAP. I promise you won’t be disappointed!! Charlie is the real deal, and his latest is a stunner! (Ted Flanagan, author of Every Hidden Thing)

Let me start by saying THE VOICES IN MY HEAD is an accomplishment. I could never have written anything like this, and not just because my upbringing was so much more tranquil. Leaving himself out there as he has, with no apologies nor justifications, took balls, I can’t imagine. No punches are pulled about the affection Stella has for his late mother, nor the unconditional love she had for him. His father, not so much.

What struck more than anything were the similarities between us. There’s the love of music and baseball. We shared a love of Mahler’s first two symphonies, the second of which Stella quotes beautifully, poignantly, and effectively in VOICES.

We also share general insecurities that display themselves in what one can probably describe as Imposter’s Syndrome. All of that and more gave me a natural empathy for the main character. Seeing the painful ways in which our lives diverged from a commonalities, made this a hard book to read at times.

Writers often talk about the courage it took to write something when they really mean they’re going to say something that will make some people uncomfortable, and may not be a popular opinion. This book took courage. As memoirs go, there’s neither titillation nor dishing. Except for his father, everyone comes off pretty well, the responsibility for past differences or hurts accepted by the author. It’s written in such a manner one can only wish young Charlie could have read it as he was going through the events described, to be cautioned as to where his decisions would lead. Too late for that, there are still a lot of people who will benefit from exactly such a reading.
Dana King (author of the Penn River series)

No one writes quite like Charlie Stella. In his soon to be published, fictional autobiography/memoir, The Voices in My Head, the reader will be treated to some of the author’s very best writing. Filled with Charlie Stella’s extraordinary gift for honest dialogue, no nonsense prose, and powerful realism. A gritty, tour-de-force, told through the eyes of “Little Jesus,” as his mother called him, but just one of the many voices in his head. Hilarious dark humor, shocking at times, heartbreaking at other times, yet always entertaining. A masterful, stunning creation from Charlie Stella, as he tells the powerful story of his life. Once started, hell to put down.
–Marvin Minkler – Modern First Editions