Creativity is destiny

This web site is supposed to be enjoyable.  I have tried to keep it simple.  Yet, regardless how hard I try, I cannot stop using words.

Some people may wish to convert written language into a lexicon of gumby-like icons, like those on lavatory doors, car dashboards, and instruction manuals. 

When Emerson exhorted his reader to simplify, gumby symbols probably never occurred to him. Yet this may be where written language is going.  Forget about Esperanto and love--the universal language may evolve into a system of pictograms. 

The ultimate culture war may not be a clash of religions, ideologies, economic philosophies, sexual orientations, or genders, but an armageddon of communication between pictorial and phonetic languages--east vs. west.  I am on the side of left-to-right, symbol-to-sound, noun-phrase/verb phrase. Let this web site be a testament to this.

My novel, AD NOMAD, will be available soon.  My publisher, Hudson Heights Press, is expecting to publish this novel about sex, drugs, and advertising (not in that order) in late February or early March.

My book of poems, THE LOST POEM & OTHERS LIKE IT, was published in early November, 2011.  It contains 131 poems of many forms on many subjects, including a new poetic form, the graffiti poem. 

My first collection of essays, Making up For Lost Time was published   February 23, 2011.  It is now available on www.Amazon.com.  To preview or order Making up for Lost Time please click this hyperlink: http://amzn.to/eJxlXn 

This is what readers are saying about MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME

 “I found Eric Sonnenschein's book of essays, "Making Up For Lost Time", to be a very enjoyable read filled with many witty and clever observations about a variety of topics which affect many of our lives.  Eric has the uncanny ability to bring a sense of warmth and eloquence to subjects ranging from the provocative to the mundane and somehow infuses them with a fresh and vibrant perspective.  He is a gifted and talented individual who provides a literary masterpiece in a short book of essays!  A definite read for anyone looking for an entertaining twist on the many things we experience in life and/or for those who want to learn from a true master who has honed his craft well!”

The author moves through a variety of topics, all unified by the sensibility of living in NYC. It would be hard to imagine certain of the essays, such as "Chat Snatcher" in which the author discovers an eavesdropping woman in a cafe stealing his ideas, taking place anywhere else. This collection is curiously hypnotic, in that these pieces are really hybrids between literary short stories and essays, often employing the best techniques of both. Sonnenschein is unflinching in his depiction of some of his own misadventures and struggles in business and in family life, misadventures with which many of us can identify. The long essay "Swimming" is a meditative piece which delves into no less than the philosophy and meaning of life. There is a certain optimistic melancholy to the tone of these pieces, reminiscent of the classic Russian short story masters, reflecting a realism about life, yet a hopefulness in spite of everything. Glimpses into the world of writing ad copy are particularly wry and rewarding. There is lots to enjoy here and to learn from.

NIGHT SCENES, a collection of photographs by Ralph Gabriner, with poems and commentary by Eric Jay Sonnenschein (me) published by Hudson Heights Press is also now available.  Please visit  http://bit.ly/gO0hRi to preview and/or purchase.

NIGHT SCENES is also now available as an I-bookwith audio, downloadable to Ipad!

You can also visit me at:   Goodreads http://bit.ly/dFntRQ       

And  Facebook:              http://on.fb.me/heDb1y      

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