Ben East Books

Tag: Literature

  • Lords of the Flies

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , , ,

    We boys are to be left alone while the lynchpin of our home operation conducts child labor research in island-nation Philippines for the next seven days. The irony’s not lost on me. How long ’til we descend into savagery? Not to worry. Rather than cranking the inevitable conflagrant sounds we so admire, we’ll tuck ourselves…

  • Sez the Man with No Lips

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , , , , , , , , ,

    I have too much to say about this experience, so I’ll just pop it up here. A few days ago I sat down to chat with Matt Whiteside and only recently looked at the results. He’s a sharp guy with a great heart and an ambitious idea: help other writers. He’s fun and funny and…

  • New Middle Grade Fiction

    New Middle Grade Fiction

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , , , ,

    Appreciated the chance to chime in on Robbie Yates latest release, The Kooky Kids’ Club, and honored to have a blurb on the cover. I found the story relatable and empathetic, the story-telling spare and true. In the author’s own words: Maxine is smart, quirky, and a bit of a misfit. One day, she receives…

  • Tom Wolfe,1930–2018

    Tom Wolfe,1930–2018

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in

    Tom Wolfe’s passing takes me back to undergrad years and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I loved Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff, but it was Acid Test—published 50 years ago—that made Tom Wolfe electric. We were studying Ken Kesey under Barry Leeds and there was never enough to go around. Cuckoo’s Nest…

  • Witch Hunt

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    Let’s not kid ourselves. Among the many mistakes in Arthur Miller’s talented life (he divorced Marilyn Monroe after just 5 yrs) was his choice of title for The SINGLE GREATEST Story About American History’s Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible. The Crucible? What’s this, Chemistry class? Are we grinding elements here to torch them with a…

  • This is what i do when i should be… 2

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    Welcome to the second installment of “This is what i do when i should be…” This week the author’s family gathers in the kitchen to answer fan mail from Mysuru (Mysore) in India and from both coasts here in the U.S. Mohan describes our podcasting layout while Vikram talks about his diorama of The Indian in the Cupboard. At minute…

  • The Big Zero

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    The latest from Don DeLillo subjects readers to suffocation in a plotless environment hosting flat characters who live out an endless procession of questions about life, death, and the consequences in between. That is Zero-K. Whether or not the flattened nature of this enterprise is intentional—to emphasize confinement, restriction, joylessness, life as a movement toward death—the result is…

  • Good Deal at Goodreads

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    Goodreads is hosting a giveaway of Two Pumps for the Body Man. Follow the link at left to win a copy. Book reviewers can contact me directly for an electronic copy. Enter to win a copy of this all-too-real satirical look at America’s diplomats on the front line of the war on terror. Imagine a Sarah Palin-style head diplomat marching to the orders of…

  • Heroes In Literature

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    Among the acknowledgements listed back of my debut novel is Barry H. Leeds, Connecticut State University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at CCSU. Hemingway, Mailer, Kesey—these were the writers Dr. Leeds expounded to us, models who wrote tough, lean sentences and big, enduring books. I worked like hell to write the strong prose Dr. Leeds demanded in his…

  • Writers at Rest

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    Taking a break from producing fiction? A couple of reads that offer ridiculous, pathetic, sad, witty, funny–fun–looks at the fiction-writer’s life include The Visiting Writer, a short story from Matthew Vollmer’s collection Gateway to Paradise, and Chris Belden’s novel, Shriver. The Visiting Writer delivers us into the world of literary aspiration, a lament on the lack of success, a self examination,…