The Cloth of Truth

My father was a Yiddish literary star, writing short stories, essays, and novels. He lectured in Canada, the U.S., Argentina, Venezuela, the former Soviet Union, and more. He was a Scholar-in-Residence at Oxford University. Nobel laureate Eli Wiesel said he was “the novelist of the Warsaw Ghetto,” whose book “Ship of the Hunted” was “…cut […]

A shaman, a cop, a snake, & a bear walk into a short story…

Too busy to commit to an epic novel? Newly released short stories I just released three short stand-alone stories from the epic novel Quantum Cannibals. The stories are free on Kindle Unlimited, $0.99 from Amazon.com. If you haven’t yet jumped into the full novel, dip your toes in the waters through these selections.

Osnat Barzani: Her Dove, Her Story and Her People

Many historical figures were reputed to be great beauties, from Helen of Troy and Cleopatra to Marie Antoinette. Many historical figures were reputed to be great scholars, from Plato and Aristotle to Adam Smith. We know more of the latter because knowledge and wisdom are more easily preserved than appearance. She should be better known […]

The Unthinkable Became Normal

A world in which everything once unthinkable became normal, would not be livable.

COVID: The Questions Stand

Though answers may change, many questions stand. Dr. Anthony Fauci made an important statement about the fluid responses to the Wuhan virus. “So when you hear someone say something at one point and then two or three months later, if you stick with what you said at the original time when you had one-fifth of […]

What Are You, Transformed Person?

Transgender rights (privilege, if you prefer), are an intractable issue in contemporary Western culture. Is a man who decides he’s a woman entitled to be treated as one? In the novel Quantum Cannibals Aarluk, a major character, changes from male to female as part of becoming a powerful shaman. (S)He marries and copulates with a […]

Beauty and Wisdom- The Character

There’s an ancient story about a man who was walking down the road when he encountered a great sage, whom he greeted with great respect. The rabbi replied “You worthless, ugly person. Are all the people of your city as ugly as you?” The man rebuked him, saying “I don’t know, but you should say […]

Sexy Cuties: Art or Abomination?

This is the first in a series of posts introducing characters from the novel Quantum Cannibals Alex is a secondary character in Quantum Cannibals. He’s a renowned poet whose wife tells a friend “Alex likes young men and boys.” The character was inspired by the pederasty of beat poet and cultural icon Allen Ginsberg. He […]

Trying To Be a Good Character

The novel Quantum Cannibals has a large cast of characters, some evil, some saintly. Most are complex, neither black nor white. A person can be a good character, but simply confused when facing an impossible situation. All of the characters in the book are intended to reflect back on our non-fictional world, to say something […]

Two Plus Two Equals Five: the Miracle of Limited Understanding

1921-22, among the Iglulik Eskimo (Inuit): “I once went out to Aua’s hunting quarters on the ice outside Lyon Inlet… For several evenings we had discussed rules of life without getting beyond a long and circumstantial statement of all that was permitted and all that was forbidden. Everyone knew precisely what had to be done […]

Sexual Violence- Twice a Victim

I’ve been victimized by sexual violence. Lucky me; it’s happened twice, and I was horrified. Let me clarify. I wasn’t horrified when it happened. I thought it was funny back then, and laughed. Rather, I was horrified when told that what happened to me was sexual violence. An educational program I’m taking recently obliged all […]

Should Writers be Afraid to Offend?

Much of stereotypical science fiction has courageous heroes traveling into deep space to fend off some kind of alien threat. In stereotypical fantasy literature, the hero fearlessly battles dragons, demons, or wicked sorcerers. Given all these brave figures that speculative fiction authors create, should speculative fiction writers be afraid to offend? More specifically, should they […]

I’m Grateful It’s Cold

I’m grateful it’s so cold outside. Not just bitterly cold, but skin-numbing cold. Frostbite cold. Not to mention windy, making the weather even more unpleasant, maybe dangerous. (Much warmer though, than what the exiles face in the novel Quantum Cannibals) I’m Grateful for Wood Maybe I should go chop some firewood. On a cold day […]

I Think Therefore I Really Am…

It’s time to modify Descartes’s famous line I think therefore I am. It should now read I think I am, therefore I am. The original is no longer relevant, because if thinking was a condition of existence, there would not be many people left in our part of the world. Proof can be found on […]

Indigenous Jews, Indigenous People

I’ve spent a lot of time living and working with Indigenous people. I spent a winter in the boreal forest with Indians, five hundred kilometers from the nearest road or telephone. My wife and I spent a winter in an Eskimo village. I’ve eaten raw walrus, raw beluga whale (while it was still alive), beaver, […]