Tom Cole on Autofiction, Shame-Based Writing, and Being an Unreliable Narrator

Chimes is a monologue written by Tom Cole, published in 2026 by The Song Cave as a slim volume of 120 pages.

It was initially presented as an episodic audio play at Le Petit Versailles, a community garden in New York’s East Village, during the summer of 2020.

The work blends fiction with theatrical elements, designed to feel immediate and engaging like a live performance.

The narrative follows an unnamed narrator, a gay man reflecting on isolation, crisis, and absurdity during early COVID-19 lockdowns.

The book’s structure and brevity (readable in one or two days) were intentional, aiming to mimic the experience of attending a show rather than reading a traditional play or novel.

Cole describes it as a hybrid form, neither pure memoir nor straightforward fiction, but a blend that captures emotional truth rather than factual accuracy.