"Writing is the sculpture in which you build the stone."​

    

Novels were the freest literary form because no one knew what they were...And we still don't.

 

They evolved from epics and fables to diaries and letters, evolved into a medley of stories and essays--serial, fragmentary. and grew into studies, documentaries and psychological allegories,

 

Once revered as social documents, they are now grist for motion pictures and TV.  Novels may go the way of poetry, a form more practiced than appreciated. 

         

Novelty has always been the essence of the novel.  This may be what the form is lacking now.Recently, on a PBS program, "The Open Mind" the editor of the New York Times Book Review declared that there had never been as many competently written novels as there are today.  This would be good news if the novel were a table or a chair.  Competence is what you look for in plumbing or tax preparation, not art.     

 
The modern novel found a vital pathway with Andre Gide, JP Sartre,

Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac and The Beats.  These and others captured andperpetuated the surprising and improvisational spirit at the heart of the art form. 

 

The one story a novel can tell better than a newspaper, a TV documentary or a film is an individual's exploration and discovery of personal truths.  A fantasy or action novel can always be outdone by motion pictures and animation. The historical novel will always be candied history, science fiction is never as instructive as a science text, and a novel about society will never be as authentic as a book on sociology. 

 

But a novel about one person's experience and journey--physical, psychological--cannot be duplicated or surpassed in any other literary form.  The current tension between the novel and the memoir--and the greater popularity of fictions camouflaged as memoirs over the straight memoir underscores the continued appetite for the novel of the individual life and the intrigue and glamor of the lives scrupulously examined but generally unseen of uncelebrated people . 

 

My novel, AD NOMAD, is now available on Amazon.com.   http://amzn.to/LEWeYA

 

This is what readers are saying about AD NOMAD

 

Jessica's review

Jun 21, 12

bookshelves: first-reads

Read from May 29 to June 21, 2012

 

Wow! If this is what it is like to work in advertising, I'm so glad I have a different career path. Ad Nomad follows the ups and downs (mostly) of late-in-life pharm-ad guy Dane. And boy Dan and I have some of the same issues with anger management and integrity in others. I was a little daunted by the length of the story but once I started reading, it was very quick. The story progresses nicely. It has many vivid characters that make appearances throughout the various jobs Dane takes. There are many times you can empathize with Dane's mental state and lots of time you want to step-in for him and knock some sense into his boss.

It was very well written and engaging. I'm not sure if it is a true story (or based on a true story) but should be a must read for anyone who wants to get into advertising. It provides an interesting insight into an industry that I knew nothing about, and after reading Ad Nomad, I'm kind of glad I don't.

 

Bruce from California wrote:

 

"I've already read Eric's book and it's like a thriller...waiting to see what's going to befall the ad protagonist next! I need to get around to penning an Amazon review."

 

... I was curiously spellbound by the ad novel. It's a chronicle of life in the big city,and I recognized the locales in the tri-state area of course. It's kind of poignant with the theme of an artist who must make a living, not so hard for me, & others I am sure, to relate to...