Gefilte Fish in the House of Bedlam is a collection of eleven short stories harnessed together with pearls of pathos and dementia by modern-day poet-putz Larry Baumhor. Baumhor himself is the protagonist of all the stories, which blur art and reality in a manner not unlike the work of the late comedian Andy Kaufman. In the belly of each story is an unveiling of emotions and humor, suffering and pleasure, desperation and satire, but foremost, a connection to the human experience. Titles of Short Stories 1. "Looking for Mr. Salinger": A desperate comedic search for recluse and literary icon J.D. Salinger. 2. "The House of Bedlam": Three weeks in a mental hospital unravels institutional scams, and the chief psychiatrist's mental illness. 3. "Livin' and Lovin' in a Reverie": Larry becomes a character in the movie The Visitor, falling in love with Mouna, (Hiam Abbass). 4. "Pick Your Nose in New York ": Larry was thrown out of a cab in New York for picking his nose. 5. "The Bizzaro World": Larry enters a topsy-turvy world where the opposite appears to be good, sardonically justifying President Bush as the leader of our Bizzaro World. He is thrown out of a New York deli for eating a corned beef sandwich while buying photos, dines with a toy fox terrier, and breathes in clouds of secondhand smoke in a "No Smoking" section. 6. "Our Western World": A stream-of-consciousness satirical rant about the ills of Western society. 7. "Poems for Strippers": Writing poems to a stripper in exchange for a couch dance. 8. "Children of Baseball": Larry coaches LittleLeague baseball while playing Lombardi-type football. 9. "Gefilte Fish": Passover dinner with a psychologically disturbed family and a grandmother who served gefilte fish as she wore her brassiere with a Viceroy cigarette dangling from her lips. 10. "Your Disco Buddy": In 1977 Larry was a disco dancer. He decided to contact his disco buddy after thirty years of not talking to her. 11. "So Your Kid Wants to be a Sportscaster": Larry mailed 497 resume packages for his son to obtain a job as a sportscaster, with harsh and comical results.