"But for what purpose was the earth formed?" asks Candide.
"To drive us mad," replies Martin.
Voltaire was an amusing and sarcastic guy. If his was the Age of Enlightenment, we live in the Age of Schizophrenia. We are all at once going stark raving mad and attaining the deepest levels of spiritual fulfillment. Insanity and Nirvana all in the same breath.
At times it's hard to grasp and enough to make us gasp.
But see now the hero of Gawd Bless Amurica, America Augustus Mirth. August, he prefers. He's a throwback to the Sixties, to cross country trips in an old VW microbus and a fat bag of weed. But before his hippie sojourn, he played middle linebacker for Middlebury and fought with the Marines in the jungles of Vietnam. Three wives, a dozen kids all named after the original thirteen colonies, August is a chatty but impenetrable guy, a complex American male.
Master automotive mechanic Ed Rucker has been thoroughly disenfranchised in the Age of Schizophrenia. He's lost and lonely as hell and recently purchased a handgun in the Live Free or Die State. Ed knows his wife is boffing the pastor. Ed knows his job at Jiffy Lube is a lousy, dead-end, loser's job. Ed knows he's a crappy son, husband, father. And by God for all these reasons and many more old Ed is ticked off. He's also depressed and strung out on booze, painkillers, and worry, but Ed can't digest all these marvels of the modern world so he settles on anger. Rage. Vexation. And the oh so sweet possibility of revenge.
Reverend Sandy Miles has been having sex with Ed's wife.. He can't help himself. He may be a Man of the Cloth but he is wholly a Man of the Flesh. He has lost interest in his wife and in God. The whole notion of God has started to bore and annoy Sandy. All that faith and sanctimony. Sure, he puts on a good show every Sunday morning, but the rest of the time he's lying, cheating, gambling and living a life of pure delightful sin.
America Augustus Mirth, Eddie Rucker, and Reverend Sandy Miles are on a collision course. Destiny, or perhaps free will, is about to bring together this trio of depleted American males at the First Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
What happens at that chapel, and in the days to follow at the Mirth family farm in Middlebury, Vermont, will alter forever all three men's lives.
And America, the country, may never be the same again.
Does Life have Meaning? Or is the Universe nothing but random Chaos? One black hole inside another, nothing more than an endless array of Russian Nesting dolls.
Gawd Bless Amurica quietly asks these Big Questions as this amusing, picaresque novel unfolds in a dizzying blend of character developments, plot twists, and bizarre action sequences.
A perfect metaphor for contemporary America, Gawd Bless Amurica will amuse, invigorate, and inspire all who experience its literary magic.
As I write this it is Thanksgiving 2017. I wrote the first draft of this novel at least a decade ago, probably longer. It has been through an unknowable number of drafts. But at its core the novel has remained the same: an American fairytale. A parable. An allegory. An American fable about Life, Liberty, and the right to have a good time.
When you write as many novels as I have on such a wide range of subjects it's tough to decide which one best communicates your own personal philosophy. But Gawd Bless Amurica might be the one. It contains great stores of humor and interesting characters looking desperately for understanding and love. There are plots and subplots to move the action. The writing is terse and always entertaining. Virtually all the gunk has been removed. And most important of all, it is truly an American tale, a story that could not happen anywhere but here in this schizophrenic bastion of democracy, capitalism, and materialism.
Gawd Bless Amurica is like a fine wine and a bowl of Lebanese blond for your reading pleasure.
Genre: Literary Fiction
"To drive us mad," replies Martin.
Voltaire was an amusing and sarcastic guy. If his was the Age of Enlightenment, we live in the Age of Schizophrenia. We are all at once going stark raving mad and attaining the deepest levels of spiritual fulfillment. Insanity and Nirvana all in the same breath.
At times it's hard to grasp and enough to make us gasp.
But see now the hero of Gawd Bless Amurica, America Augustus Mirth. August, he prefers. He's a throwback to the Sixties, to cross country trips in an old VW microbus and a fat bag of weed. But before his hippie sojourn, he played middle linebacker for Middlebury and fought with the Marines in the jungles of Vietnam. Three wives, a dozen kids all named after the original thirteen colonies, August is a chatty but impenetrable guy, a complex American male.
Master automotive mechanic Ed Rucker has been thoroughly disenfranchised in the Age of Schizophrenia. He's lost and lonely as hell and recently purchased a handgun in the Live Free or Die State. Ed knows his wife is boffing the pastor. Ed knows his job at Jiffy Lube is a lousy, dead-end, loser's job. Ed knows he's a crappy son, husband, father. And by God for all these reasons and many more old Ed is ticked off. He's also depressed and strung out on booze, painkillers, and worry, but Ed can't digest all these marvels of the modern world so he settles on anger. Rage. Vexation. And the oh so sweet possibility of revenge.
Reverend Sandy Miles has been having sex with Ed's wife.. He can't help himself. He may be a Man of the Cloth but he is wholly a Man of the Flesh. He has lost interest in his wife and in God. The whole notion of God has started to bore and annoy Sandy. All that faith and sanctimony. Sure, he puts on a good show every Sunday morning, but the rest of the time he's lying, cheating, gambling and living a life of pure delightful sin.
America Augustus Mirth, Eddie Rucker, and Reverend Sandy Miles are on a collision course. Destiny, or perhaps free will, is about to bring together this trio of depleted American males at the First Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
What happens at that chapel, and in the days to follow at the Mirth family farm in Middlebury, Vermont, will alter forever all three men's lives.
And America, the country, may never be the same again.
Does Life have Meaning? Or is the Universe nothing but random Chaos? One black hole inside another, nothing more than an endless array of Russian Nesting dolls.
Gawd Bless Amurica quietly asks these Big Questions as this amusing, picaresque novel unfolds in a dizzying blend of character developments, plot twists, and bizarre action sequences.
A perfect metaphor for contemporary America, Gawd Bless Amurica will amuse, invigorate, and inspire all who experience its literary magic.
As I write this it is Thanksgiving 2017. I wrote the first draft of this novel at least a decade ago, probably longer. It has been through an unknowable number of drafts. But at its core the novel has remained the same: an American fairytale. A parable. An allegory. An American fable about Life, Liberty, and the right to have a good time.
When you write as many novels as I have on such a wide range of subjects it's tough to decide which one best communicates your own personal philosophy. But Gawd Bless Amurica might be the one. It contains great stores of humor and interesting characters looking desperately for understanding and love. There are plots and subplots to move the action. The writing is terse and always entertaining. Virtually all the gunk has been removed. And most important of all, it is truly an American tale, a story that could not happen anywhere but here in this schizophrenic bastion of democracy, capitalism, and materialism.
Gawd Bless Amurica is like a fine wine and a bowl of Lebanese blond for your reading pleasure.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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