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Double Your Pleasure: 8 Short Stories from the 1960s . . . With Gratitude and Apologies to Emile Zola, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Ernest ... Updike, and Kurt Vonnegut....among others
Paul M. Clemens
Paperback. Pelican Pond 2015-07-25.
ISBN 9781577332947
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Publisher description
Nothing but love has any meaning...." In the 1960s the literary custom was that everything began and ended "in medias res"-in the middle of things. These eight stories focus on "slices of life" in the daily lives of a few individuals to spotlight our human condition. The stories emerged at a time in the U.S. between the hope, then assassination of President Kennedy, civil rights marches, the U.S. entrance into the Vietnam conflict, and the "summer of love" in San Francisco and rebellious birth of the hippie generation. The writing here is experimental. "Having read hundreds of novels from many genres and cultures, I found myself imitating my favorite authors. That is, there are bits and pieces of style, dialogue, character representation, descriptive detail, and story-line themes all amalgamated into a new voice-my voice-which at that time, was still emerging and developing." In the first two stories, perhaps readers will notice "hints" of John Updike's Rabbit. Or the short declarative sentences of Ernest Hemingway. Or the intimate inner monologues of William Faulkner, revealing the labyrinth of the mind's twists and turns. Or the naive, sensitive young man of the narrator (James Joyce, J.D. Salinger)-who encounters the stark reality of daily life amidst the natural cycle of birth and death. Or the satirical meaninglessness of personal experiences which few know or even care about (Kurt Vonnegut): young couples having babies, working dead-end jobs, having fast cars, and questioning sex and their infidelities. The words, thoughts, excuses, fantasies-are all props to feel "good, " to feel personal power, to "be somebody." What still lingers is the deeper desire to find "love"-not just between bodies, but between souls. "Double Your Pleasure is a colorful glimpse into an era of our culture and society now somewhat gone . . . a classic example of 'innocence coming to age.'" -Prof. Wallace Williams, Indiana University
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Double Your Pleasure: 8 Short Stories from the 1960s . . . With Gratitude and Apologies to Emile Zola, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Ernest ... Updike, and Kurt Vonnegut....among others
Book reviews » Double Your Pleasure: 8 Short Stories from the 1960s . . . With Gratitude and Apologies to Emile Zola, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Ernest ... Updike, and Kurt Vonnegut....among others
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