19 Comments
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Kenny Ellison's avatar

You bring life from language, Joel. You open a new world to me through your poetic prose. Muchas gracias.

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An Ol' LSO's avatar

Absolutely, Kenny. Joel's proses are a delight! And, they constantly send me to a dictionary to understand both the written word and the delicate meanings.

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James W.'s avatar

Tongue in Cheek LSO

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Ron J Turk's avatar

Welcome back Joel. Always enjoy your travel tales. Your children are blessed to have the education you and wifey are providing. Look forward to all your new written thoughts.

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Xavier Narutowicz's avatar

I agree, all fiction is autobiographical. It always emanates from the experience and mental gyrations of the author. Whether or not autobiography is a fabrication or lie depends on the person. Some have an essence of truth, some are a jumbled mess of mental inconsistency. You need the essence of truth to be a good story teller, they resonate on some deeper level, reach a pervasive audience, become classic.

I thought modern literature dead, then I listened to Tucker Carlson interview the Wolf of Wall Street.

The Wolf said, he learned to write by reading Tom Wolf’s “Bonfire of Vanities.” I subsequently read Bonfire and it is a truthful rendition of NY justice and American Society.

I recently bought The Harvard Classics, couple of dollars on Amazon.

I am beginning to read the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; I don’t expect to find much fiction there.

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Joel Bowman's avatar

Always so thoughtful, Xavier. Thank you for your comments. Cheers!

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ROGER HAYWARD BOX's avatar

Nice to have you home in BA, you seem more comfortable and reflective.

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Joel Bowman's avatar

Thank you, kind sir!

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Robin Bacchus's avatar

Tell me the difference and commonality between Forward and Foreword please.

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Joel Bowman's avatar

The difference… an auto-correct typo that I overlooked. Twice! (Corrected, thanks to another vigilant reader.)

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RICH's avatar

Delicious!

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MarcusTC's avatar

Novels are joy to read! You get lost in another world and a nice relief from our day to day tribulations. Awesome

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Steve L's avatar

Thank you Joel, buying your book on Amazon and looking forward to an entire week of your wonderful work 🙏

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Joel Bowman's avatar

Thank YOU!

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Graeme's avatar

I can't find where or how to download the books.

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Joel Bowman's avatar

Check here, good sir. Please let us know if this does not deliver. If you’re a member, it should allow you access:

https://joelbowman.substack.com/s/books

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Richard Kuslan's avatar

Many more of these "we" usages. "We do this..." and "we do that...". This is the assumption that I already agree, and an thus subsumed into the writer's suppositions. But I do not and ought not to be. No, fiction is not autobiographical; rather, it is imagined. It is not a story of the writer's life, unless he is a hack. Rather, fiction is, in its greatest successes, a solution for its character's tribulations that is imagined out of thin air.

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Robert Gore's avatar

Modern literary fictions uses many words to say little. I prefer the opposite, on those rare occasions when I can find it.

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Aug 18
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Joel Bowman's avatar

Thanks for your patience! It’s as Pericles said: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”

I would infinitely prefer to write about the nature of aesthetics and metaphysics… alas, the reality of politics compelled us to pay attention. Cheers to you!

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