David B. Lentz

This is an astonishing book. In Bloomsday the magic of David Lentz’s imagination has produced a fictional transmigration of souls, a rebirth of James Joyce’s characters in a modern time and place. Dedalus, Bloom, Haines, Buck Mulligan and others of the original Dublin cast have been reborn in contemporary Boston. Mr. Lentz has accomplished this feat not only with prodigious erudition, but also with a delicate whimsy and an exquisitely chiseled poetic language. For this is a poetic prose of the first order -- lyrical and learned, but brought down to earth by the real particulars of modern life and enlivened by punning, rapid-fire repartee. The reader recurrently experiences a pleasure like déjà vu, because his footing is in two places at the same time -- both in the present narrative and in Joyce’s prototype. Here again are the carnal appetites and pathos of an apparently soon-to-be-cuckolded Bloom. But now it is Leopold Bloom’s dead son Rudy who is reborn and relives his father’s drama. Dedalus is now Stephen’s son Thom who, after he has been fired from Harvard for drunkenness, first meets Bloom at Tim Finnegan’s wake. Not only Joyce’s characters but also each episode of his drama has been reimagined and reclothed in modern dress. In the Proteus episode a drunken, despairing Dedalus delivers a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy stumbling through Harvard Yard. In Lentz’s recasting of the Nausicca episode, the language of Rudy Bloom’s passionate, melancholy meditations is worthy of Joyce himself. In the Oxen of the Sun chapter, Mr. Lentz’s acrobatic literary clowning is more reminiscent of the Marx Brothers. After Dedalus gives Bloom LSD, the Circe episode becomes a boisterous, hallucinogenic rhapsody. And what of Molly Bloom’s soliloquy? It has been reforged as a splendid, down-to-earth, exquisitely moving prose poem delivered by Rudy Bloom’s ravishingly beautiful and deeply loyal wife Penelope. A very brief review can’t do justice to Mr. Lentz’s touching, funny, intricate, seemingly infinite variations on a theme by Joyce. But here’s the crux of the matter: this is a major work by a major writer -- and sophisticated readers will relish it.

"Novel Criticism" helps connect serious writers with serious readers who seek more depth and substance beyond the novels of mainstream best-sellers. This book proposes a new critical model to review novels designed to guide readers in creating and posting insightful reviews at online booksellers. Finally, the book offers a "Novelist's Top 100 Novels," which represents a list of the most enduring masterpieces of the genre written by genius literary novelists. Why invest time and money in commercial fare never meant to satisfy more sophisticated readers?

Product Description Dr. Rich Proffette of the Wharton School in 1999 discovers the Holy Grail of Wall Street: a breakthrough stock trading algorithm with an uncanny ability to predict stock price movements. His trading model, Market Equilibrium Shock Theory, is widely hailed as one of the great economic ciphers of the 20th century and has rewarded him with a vast fortune amid Wall Street's longest Bull Market rampage. Powerful people covet his precious algorithm from underworld hackers to global banks and the U.S. government: all want to seize his priceless intellectual property. The one true love of his life, Katherine North, is a stunning, gifted, Wharton grad student, who co-invented the algorithm. She knows a dark secret which may cost him everything. Take a random walk down Market Street in the City of Brotherly Love as this comic novel engages you in day trading on Wall Street. Reviews "Lentz is a novelist whose knowledge of the inner workings of Wall Street and day trading fuels his plots." - Greenwich Time "A talent for blending a compelling story line with pathos and humor."-The Greenwich Post "A 21st century, digital metaphor."- The Redding Pilot "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven."- The Weston Forum "He does not manufacture cookie-cutter best-sellers."- The Wilton Bulletin "Super entertainment, a real page turner. Before you know it, you are immersed in the day trader's world and fascinated by the action." - J.C. Ackerman, CEO, Day Trader "For those who have worked on Wall Street or have merely owned a few shares in perplexing markets this book hits home."- Professor Joseph Connolly, MBA, Paris About the Author Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B. Lentz graduated from Bates College and has written professionally for more than 35 years as an executive for global, financial corporations conducting business on Wall Street. He has lived in Boston's Back Bay, the Garden District of New Orleans, Houston and Philadelphia's Main Line. Currently, he resides with his family in Greenwich, CT. In addition to "The Day Trader", Lentz has published five other literary novels -- "For the Beauty of the Earth"," AmericA, Inc.", "Bloomsday", "Bourbon Street" and "The Silver King." He wrote a tragicomic stage play, as an American sequel to James Joyce's "Ulysses", entitled "Bloomsday", and has adapted his novel, "AmericA, Inc.", for the stage. Lentz has published a volume of poetry, "Old Greenwich Odes", and is a Member of the Academy of American Poets. His collected literary works are published in a volume entitled "Essential Lentz." He has served Bates College as an Alumnus-in-Admissions, the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Ad Club, the Philadelphia Mayor's Council for Literacy, Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of America, Healing the Children (Board), Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Hurricane Katrina JazzAid: New Orleans (Founder), Hope + Heroes Children's Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation for Children's Cancer Research and as a Volunteer in St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero. He is a Member of the Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.

Bruce Warrick is a young, Harvard MBA with a new position for a global, financial conglomerate in New York as the portfolio manager of a Top 50 hedge fund and who suffers from a sleep disorder, which under severe stress drives him irresistibly to fall asleep. His powerful CEO compels him to join a private, hedge fund association -- the Keynes Society at the Harvard Club of New York. Bruce learns that the Keynes Society privately controls $1 trillion in assets in a dark pool -- more than the individual GDPs of all but eight nations worldwide. The trouble begins when Bruce learns that the members of the Keynes Society are trading stocks under the influence of an enigmatic, globally elite Board of Governors. When Bruce is told by his firm to trade illegally at the Keynes Society, he may blow the whistle. But why risk paradise on earth against such intimidating power? What is the net asset value on Wall Street of one's soul? What People Are Saying "There is a balance in his writing. Lentz has a talent for blending a compelling story line with pathos and humor, a measure of literary and historical allusion, and vivid imagery. The result is the literary equivalent of high definition -- the reader is bombarded with rich text that infuses the senses." -- The Greenwich Post "As in most of his stories, there is more than one tale to tell in this new novel. The protagonist is a kind of Adam before the Fall with a great Achilles heel. Yet in this Adam's Fall, all is not Paradise." --The Darien Times "This is about what happens when you lose everything and you're stripped down to the bare human essentials." --The Ridgefield Press "The retention of dignity is a recurring theme in Lentz's novels. There is always one major conflict -- the position of the individual against a great antagonistic force." --The Lewisboro Ledger "Lentz especially likes to explore how creative people survive and contribute in a large and often impersonal environment. What is the role of a talented individual, an artist for example, in a complex, vast society?" -- The New Canaan Advertiser "His writing is different because he does not manufacture cookie-cutter best-sellers but writes on a higher plane for a higher purpose." --The Wilton Bulletin "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven - searching for the meaning of life and evaluating an upside-down world." --The Weston Forum "His pixilism is a sort of 21st century, digital metaphor that has similarities to French Impressionist paintings. Each sentence represents an idea, image or treatment of the big picture." --The Redding Pilot About the Author Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B. Lentz graduated from Bates College and has written professionally for more than 35 years. As well as "For the Beauty of the Earth," he has published five other novels: "AmericA, Inc.", "Bloomsday", "Bourbon Street", "The Day Trader" and "The Silver King." He wrote a tragicomic stage play, as an American sequel to James Joyce's "Ulysses," entitled "Bloomsday," and has adapted his novel, "AmericA, Inc.", for the stage. Lentz has published a volume of poetry, "Old Greenwich Odes", and is a member of the Academy of American Poets. His collected literary works are published in a volume entitled "Essential Lentz." Lentz has lived in the Garden District of New Orleans, Boston's Back Bay, Houston, Philadelphia's Main Line and Greenwich, Connecticut. He has served Bates College as an Alumnus-in-Admissions, the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Ad Club, the Philadelphia Mayor's Council for Literacy, Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of America, Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Hurricane Katrina JazzAid: New Orleans, Hope + Heroes Children's Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation for Children's Cancer Research, Healing the Children (Board) and St. Paul's Chapel as a Volunteer at Ground Zero. He is a member of the Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.

Editorial Reviews Review "His pixilism is a sort of 21st century, digital metaphor that has similarities to French Impressionist paintings. Each sentence represents an idea, image or treatment of the big picture." --Redding Pilot, May 2010 "The retention of dignity is a recurring theme in Lentz's novels. There is always one major conflict -- the position of the individual against a great, antagonistic force." --Lewisboro Ledger, May 2010 "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven." --The Weston Forum, May 2010 Product Description The Silver King portrays the intrigue within the underground movement of the Contras seeking the first democracy for Nicaragua. This miracle of freedom is shaped by Sheridan Quince, an American pilot and fisherman, who aspires to catch-and-release a world-record tarpon, or silver king, with a fly rod in the Caribbean Sea. After meeting at the Key Largo Bar in San Jose, Costa Rica, Elsa Paraiso leads him underground into the power struggle between the US-backed Contras and Sandinistas, financed by the USSR. The players are Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Fidel Castro, Oscar Arias, Daniel Ortega and Violeta Chamorro, who seeks election as one of the first women Presidents of a nation in the Western Hemisphere. The Silver King is a tale of political power plays and high finance among the tropical rainforests, beaches and money centers of Central America. The story traverses San Jose, the Caribbean, Panama and Managua under siege. The Silver King chronicles the genesis of democracy in our time. It is a worthy tale about the value of a free society to a nation of four million people gripped in a desperate struggle to build one. About the Author Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B. Lentz graduated from Bates College and has written professionally for more than 35 years for global, financial corporations. He has lived in Boston's Back Bay, the Garden District of New Orleans and Philadelphia's Main Line. Currently, he resides with his family in Greenwich, CT. In addition to this novel, Lentz has published a book of poetry, Old Greenwich Odes; two stage plays, Bloomsday and AmericA, Inc.; and five literary novels - For the Beauty of the Earth, AmericA, Inc., Bloomsday, Bourbon Street and The Day Trader. He has served Bates College as an Alumnus-in-Admissions, Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of America, Healing the Children (Board), Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Hurricane Katrina JazzAid: New Orleans (Founder): Hope + Heroes Children's Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation for Children's Cancer Research and as a Volunteer in St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero. Lentz is a Member of the Academy of American Poets. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. San Jose Siren Sheridan rode with Elsa in her car from the Key Largo Bar to the outskirts of San Jose and parked at her contemporary, Spanish townhouse of white adobe with a red clay tile roof and a tropical garden. Elsa's living room with marble floors and oil paintings in the style of the Impressionists housed a jacuzzi and a wet bar. She had decorated the interior with white wicker furniture. It opened into a center courtyard graced with wrought iron furniture and wild palms. Sheridan admired an exquisite oil portrait of the head and shoulders of a kind woman with tender, radiant blue eyes. "The portrait looks like a Velazquez," he said. "You admire Velazquez?" she asked. "Yes. I saw his work at The Prado in Madrid." "This artist wanted to paint a larger portrait of my mother. He said that she had lovely hands. But she declined." "Why?" "She thought the portrait would become too vast. Too difficult to move. And someday her son-in-law would object to the display of so large a picture of la vieja. After she was gone." "Of the old one?" "Yes. She was a great lady. Modest and sweet." "You have your mother's eyes." She opened a bottle of Dom Perignon. They sat upon her couch, sipping extra brut champagne and listening to the sweet saxophone jazz of Gato Barbieri. "I brought you here for a reason you may not expect," she said. "Isn't it dangerous bringing home a stranger?" "You do not seem dangerous," she replied. "Adventurous, perhaps. But I see no malice. Am I right?" "Yes." "I could read it in your face. When I saw you with your Gulfstream II at the aeropuerto. And in conversation at the Key Largo. About releasing the tarpon after you catch them. Your face lacks malice in the eyes." They drank champagne and smiled at each other silently. "I want to ask you a question," she said. "Shoot." "Do you consider yourself a loyal American?" "Absolutely," he said. "Why?" "I want to offer you a generous sum of cash, " she said. "For a project that suits you perfectly." "What, in God's name?" "Our Freedom Fighters need weapons. We have access to the weapons outside Nicaragua. But we lack the means to deliver them to the Contras," she said. "Who are we?" he asked. "We are a group from Nicaragua who supports the Contras. We have succeeded in raising money from private citizens in the United States. Mostly Texas and Florida. We want to stop communism in Nicaragua," she explained. "The Sandinistas have destroyed a way of life that is precious to us. They have taken away our freedom. We want life to be normal. To live without fear." "So you enlist men from the Key Largo? " he asked. "I went to the Key Largo to find you. After I saw you at the aeropuerto," she said. "It is where Norteamericano men go. When they are alone in San Jose." "This is not my war," he said. "And I am not a mercenary." "My father lives in Managua, which is an armed camp. My brother is a Contra. He lives like a pauper in the jungles and mountains. He fights the Sandinistas in the heat and rain among the snakes and mosquitoes. With the spirit of a tarpon. But he lacks weapons and ammunition to defend himself. And medicine. It is very tragic." "War always is." "We are no longer free. Do you understand what that means? To lose your freedom? Your way of life?" Sheridan listened pensively to Elsa's touching appeal. "What do you want?" Sheridan asked. "Make flights to Nicaragua," she explained. "Over the next month. Once per week. In our plane." "Why would I even consider doing this?" "The money is good..." "I don't need money," Sheridan said. "And what you ask involves risk." "Many Americans, who support us financially, do not want a communist country near the Texas border," she said. "Communism in Nicaragua is closer than it was in Vietnam." "I've already fought a war for my country." "Your father lives in Costa Rica." "Yes," he said. "But the fighting is isolated to Nicaragua. And Costa Rica is neutral." "Do you think the communists will stop at Nicaragua? They build a fortress in my country. They are very ambitious men intent upon expanding their power. Perhaps, they desire Costa Rica next. In ten years you may look across the Rio Grande. And stare into the malicious eyes and teeth of communism. As we do. Here and now." "It won't happen." "Can you afford that risk?" she said. "The domino theory... " "That's a theory of feathers. Tied together by Generals. And tossed to the American public. Like a dry fly to a trout." "Our friends in the U.S. donate money. But cannot do more. Because your Congress has cut off funds to the Contras." "Through the Boland Amendments." "Yes. Our American friends do not want to take the chance that communism could succeed in Central America. Panama and Cuba already belong to the communists. And Nicaragua," she explained. "Communism will never expand into North America." "Your country has abandoned us. And the ground we have sacrificed so much to gain is quickly becoming lost," she pleaded. "I understand what you're saying. And I sympathize," he said warmly. "I think you already know the reasons why you should help us," she said. "They are the same reasons your brothers fought in Vietnam." "In my generation hundreds of thousands of noble, young men were killed, maimed and scarred for life. For what?" "Then I shall give you two more reasons," she said. "It would be an adventure. Based in nobility. In the life or death of my country. Of our way of life." "Hmmm. And what's your second reason?" he asked. "Me." "You?" "We may have an opportunity to get to know each other very well," she said. "You are a dangerous woman," he responded. "Isn't that what you want?" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Epic "Bourbon Street" portrays the rise of a gifted, young and penniless photographer - Aeneas Jam - who wanders Bourbon Street to photograph in black-and-white the images of legendary jazz players. Discovered by an Uptown debutante, Aeneas transforms into a portrait photographer of New Orleans' aristocracy. "Bourbon Street" is a gallery of vivid portraits of the chimeras of Aeneas. Illuminating, white hot comedy and dark, existential contrasts blend pixels into fine prose about the quest for a better life based upon one's dreams. Aeneas Jam's wanderings in New Orleans are an American jazz improvisation upon Virgil's timeless "Aeneid." "Bourbon Street" beckons you to the gallery of the dreams of Aeneas in the French Quarter of New Orleans. What People Are Saying "Lentz has a talent for blending a compelling story line with pathos and humor, a measure of literary and historical allusion, and vivid imagery. The result is the literary equivalent of high definition -- the reader is bombarded with rich text that infuses the senses." -- The Greenwich Post "His pixilism is a sort of 21st century, digital metaphor that has similarities to French Impressionist paintings. Each sentence represents an idea, image or treatment of the big picture." --The Redding Pilot "Lentz especially likes to explore how creative people survive and contribute in a large and often impersonal environment. What is the role of a talented individual, an artist for example, in a complex, vast society?" -- New Canaan Advertiser "His writing is different because he does not manufacture cookie-cutter best-sellers." -- The Wilton Bulletin "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven." -- The Weston Forum "A journey: if you know what it means to miss New Orleans, then you really should read this book." -- Yvonne LaFleur "Hot as a New Orleans' summer." -- John A. Taylor, Jr., CLU

Editorial Reviews Review "Lentz has a talent for blending a compelling story line...and vivid imagery. The result is the literary equivalent of high definition -- the reader is bombarded with rich text that infuses the senses." --Greenwich Post, May 2010 The Weston Forum, May 2010 "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven." "Lentz likes to explore how creative people survive and contribute in a large, impersonal environment. What is the role of a talented individual, an artist for example, in a complex, vast society?" --New Canaan Advertiser, May 2010 Product Description "Essential Lentz" is a compendium of the published writing of David B. Lentz spanning his creative writing career since his college days at Bates. His collected works in "Essential Lentz" feature generous excerpts from his literary novels, stage plays and poetry. CONTENTS From "The Silver King" (1999) From "The Day Trader" (2001) From "Bourbon Street" (2002) From "AmericA, Inc.: In Corporation We Trust" (2007) From "AmericA, Inc: The Stage Play" (2010) From "For the Beauty of the Earth" (2010) From "Bloomsday: The Bostoniad" (2010) From "Bloomsday: A Tragicomedy" (2010) From "Old Greenwich Odes" (2010) About the Author Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B. Lentz graduated from Bates College and has written professionally for more than 35 years for global, financial corporations. He has lived in Boston's Back Bay, the Garden District of New Orleans and Philadelphia's Main Line. Currently, he resides with his family in Greenwich, CT. Lentz has published six literary novels -- "For the Beauty of the Earth", "AmericA, Inc.", "Bloomsday", "Bourbon Street", "The Day Trader" and "The Silver King." He wrote a tragicomic stage play, as an American sequel to James Joyce's "Ulysses", entitled "Bloomsday." His satirical stage play, "AmericA, Inc.", was written after the re-election of Bush-Cheney during one of the bleakest eras for human rights in modern American history. In addition, he has written a volume of poetry, "Od Greenwich Odes" about everyday life in a New England village on Long Island Sound. Lentz has served Bates College as an Alumnus-in-Admissions, the Bates College Club, the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Ad Club, the Philadelphia Mayor's Council for Literacy, Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of America, Healing the Children Northeast, Inc. (Board), Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Hurricane Katrina JazzAid: New Orleans (Founder): Hope + Heroes Children's Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation for Children's Cancer Research and St. Paul's Chapel as a Volunteer at Ground Zero. He is a Member of the Academy of American Poets.

Editorial Reviews Review "Lentz likes to explore how creative people survive and contribute in a large, impersonal environment. What is the role of a talented individual, an artist for example, in a complex, vast society?" --New Cannan Advertiser, May 2010 "The retention of dignity is a recurring theme... There is always one major conflict -- the position of the individual against a great, antagonistic force." --Lewisboro Ledger, May 2010 "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven." --The Weston Forum, May 2010 Product Description In this rich, dark comedy the USA has evolved in 2020 into a global corporate nation or "corpornation." Sub-divided by a great, brick wall into the northern Bluefish and southern Redfish States, AmericA, Inc. is run by Travis Bash, President + CEO. Perpetually at war, its Supreme Court disbanded, riddled by lobbyists and voracious for capital, Bash drafts Bob, a destitute Yale poet, to transform America, Inc.'s corporate culture. Bob's job is to market to shareholders the vulgar, bewildering and corrupt culture of this brutal corporate nation to increase share value. Nothing is sacred in corporate America or American culture in this hilarious cautionary tale about a corpornation gone berserk in its relentless pursuit of self-interest and profitability. In a blend of high and low comedy, AmericA, Inc. rings true in a witty, merciless lampoon of the omniscient intrusion of the savage greed of big business into culture, politics, law, religion and everyday life. Lentz innovates with an accessible, darkly comic script to bring characters to life onstage in satire. In AmericA, Inc. Lentz extends the literary bloodline of the rich satire of Gaddis, Beckett, Orwell and Moliere. About the Author Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B. Lentz graduated from Bates College and has written professionally for more than 35 years for global, financial corporations. He has lived in Boston's Back Bay, the Garden District of New Orleans and Philadelphia's Main Line. Currently, he resides with his family in Greenwich, CT. AmericA, Inc. was originally written as a satirical novel immediately after the re-election of GW Bush in one of the darkest periods for human rights in modern US history. In addition to this stage play, Lentz has published Bloomsday: A Stage Play and a book of poetry, Old Greenwich Odes. He has also published six literary novels - For the Beauty of the Earth, AmericA, Inc., Bloomsday, Bourbon Street, The Day Trader and The Silver King. He has served Bates College as an Alumnus-in-Admissions, the Bates College Club, the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Ad Club, the Philadelphia Mayor's Council for Literacy, Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of America, Healing the Children (Board), Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Hurricane Katrina JazzAid: New Orleans (Founder): Hope + Heroes Children's Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation for Children's Cancer Research and St. Paul's Chapel as a Volunteer at Ground Zero. Lentz is a Member of the Academy of American Poets.

Simple, elegant, original poetry about life in a gloriously beautiful, New England town on the coast of Long Island Sound with color photos. The poetry portrays everyday life in Old Greenwich in seeking sea glass, Back Country stone walls, equestrian pursuits, village life, views from walking the shores of the Sound and true love. The full-color photography is tender, evocative and adds depth to the lyrical voice of the poetry.

Editorial Reviews "His pixilism is a sort of 21st century, digital metaphor that has similarities to French Impressionist paintings. Each sentence represents an idea, image or treatment of the big picture." --Redding Pilot "The retention of dignity is a recurring theme in Lentz's novels. There is always one major conflict -- the position of the individual against a great, antagonistic force." --Lewisboro Ledger "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven." --The Weston Forum Product Description The Silver King portrays the intrigue within the underground movement of the Contras seeking the first democracy for Nicaragua. This miracle of freedom is shaped by Sheridan Quince, an American pilot and fisherman, who aspires to catch-and-release a world-record tarpon, or silver king, with a fly rod in the Caribbean Sea. After meeting at the Key Largo Bar in San Jose, Costa Rica, Elsa Paraiso leads him underground into the power struggle between the US-backed Contras and Sandinistas, financed by the USSR. The players are Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Fidel Castro, Oscar Arias, Daniel Ortega and Violeta Chamorro, who seeks election as one of the first women Presidents of a nation in the Western Hemisphere. The Silver King is a tale of political power plays and high finance among the tropical rainforests, beaches and money centers of Central America. The story traverses San Jose, the Caribbean, Panama and Managua under siege. The Silver King chronicles the genesis of democracy in our time. It is a worthy tale about the value of a free society to a nation of four million people gripped in a desperate struggle to build one. About the Author Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, David B. Lentz graduated from Bates College and has written professionally for more than 35 years for global, financial corporations. He has lived in Boston's Back Bay, the Garden District of New Orleans and Philadelphia's Main Line. Currently, he resides with his family in Greenwich, CT. In addition to this novel, Lentz has published a book of poetry, Old Greenwich Odes; two stage plays, Bloomsday and AmericA, Inc.; and five literary novels - For the Beauty of the Earth, AmericA, Inc., Bloomsday, Bourbon Street and The Day Trader. He has served Bates College as an Alumnus-in-Admissions, Stamford-Greenwich Literacy Volunteers of America, Healing the Children (Board), Midnight Run for New York City Homeless, Hurricane Katrina JazzAid: New Orleans (Founder): Hope + Heroes Children's Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation for Children's Cancer Research and as a Volunteer in St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero. Lentz is a Member of the Academy of American Poets. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. San Jose Siren Sheridan rode with Elsa in her car from the Key Largo Bar to the outskirts of San Jose and parked at her contemporary, Spanish townhouse of white adobe with a red clay tile roof and a tropical garden. Elsa's living room with marble floors and oil paintings in the style of the Impressionists housed a jacuzzi and a wet bar. She had decorated the interior with white wicker furniture. It opened into a center courtyard graced with wrought iron furniture and wild palms. Sheridan admired an exquisite oil portrait of the head and shoulders of a kind woman with tender, radiant blue eyes. "The portrait looks like a Velazquez," he said. "You admire Velazquez?" she asked. "Yes. I saw his work at The Prado in Madrid." "This artist wanted to paint a larger portrait of my mother. He said that she had lovely hands. But she declined." "Why?" "She thought the portrait would become too vast. Too difficult to move. And someday her son-in-law would object to the display of so large a picture of la vieja. After she was gone." "Of the old one?" "Yes. She was a great lady. Modest and sweet." "You have your mother's eyes." She opened a bottle of Dom Perignon. They sat upon her couch, sipping extra brut champagne and listening to the sweet saxophone jazz of Gato Barbieri. "I brought you here for a reason you may not expect," she said. "Isn't it dangerous bringing home a stranger?" "You do not seem dangerous," she replied. "Adventurous, perhaps. But I see no malice. Am I right?" "Yes." "I could read it in your face. When I saw you with your Gulfstream II at the aeropuerto. And in conversation at the Key Largo. About releasing the tarpon after you catch them. Your face lacks malice in the eyes." They drank champagne and smiled at each other silently. "I want to ask you a question," she said. "Shoot." "Do you consider yourself a loyal American?" "Absolutely," he said. "Why?" "I want to offer you a generous sum of cash, " she said. "For a project that suits you perfectly." "What, in God's name?" "Our Freedom Fighters need weapons. We have access to the weapons outside Nicaragua. But we lack the means to deliver them to the Contras," she said. "Who are we?" he asked. "We are a group from Nicaragua who supports the Contras. We have succeeded in raising money from private citizens in the United States. Mostly Texas and Florida. We want to stop communism in Nicaragua," she explained. "The Sandinistas have destroyed a way of life that is precious to us. They have taken away our freedom. We want life to be normal. To live without fear." "So you enlist men from the Key Largo? " he asked. "I went to the Key Largo to find you. After I saw you at the aeropuerto," she said. "It is where Norteamericano men go. When they are alone in San Jose." "This is not my war," he said. "And I am not a mercenary." "My father lives in Managua, which is an armed camp. My brother is a Contra. He lives like a pauper in the jungles and mountains. He fights the Sandinistas in the heat and rain among the snakes and mosquitoes. With the spirit of a tarpon. But he lacks weapons and ammunition to defend himself. And medicine. It is very tragic." "War always is." "We are no longer free. Do you understand what that means? To lose your freedom? Your way of life?" Sheridan listened pensively to Elsa's touching appeal. "What do you want?" Sheridan asked. "Make flights to Nicaragua," she explained. "Over the next month. Once per week. In our plane." "Why would I even consider doing this?" "The money is good..." "I don't need money," Sheridan said. "And what you ask involves risk." "Many Americans, who support us financially, do not want a communist country near the Texas border," she said. "Communism in Nicaragua is closer than it was in Vietnam." "I've already fought a war for my country." "Your father lives in Costa Rica." "Yes," he said. "But the fighting is isolated to Nicaragua. And Costa Rica is neutral." "Do you think the communists will stop at Nicaragua? They build a fortress in my country. They are very ambitious men intent upon expanding their power. Perhaps, they desire Costa Rica next. In ten years you may look across the Rio Grande. And stare into the malicious eyes and teeth of communism. As we do. Here and now." "It won't happen." "Can you afford that risk?" she said. "The domino theory... " "That's a theory of feathers. Tied together by Generals. And tossed to the American public. Like a dry fly to a trout." "Our friends in the U.S. donate money. But cannot do more. Because your Congress has cut off funds to the Contras." "Through the Boland Amendments." "Yes. Our American friends do not want to take the chance that communism could succeed in Central America. Panama and Cuba already belong to the communists. And Nicaragua," she explained. "Communism will never expand into North America." "Your country has abandoned us. And the ground we have sacrificed so much to gain is quickly becoming lost," she pleaded. "I understand what you're saying. And I sympathize," he said warmly. "I think you already know the reasons why you should help us," she said. "They are the same reasons your brothers fought in Vietnam." "In my generation hundreds of thousands of noble, young men were killed, maimed and scarred for life. For what?" "Then I shall give you two more reasons," she said. "It would be an adventure. Based in nobility. In the life or death of my country. Of our way of life." "Hmmm. And what's your second reason?" he asked. "Me." "You?" "We may have an opportunity to get to know each other very well," she said. "You are a dangerous woman," he responded. "Isn't that what you want?" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Grace Lovejoy is photographing the neglected masterpiece mosaics of the subway for her Master's Degree in Fine Arts at Columbia. Arthur writes on the meaning of a life in disquiet as an underground commuter in New York. To breathe life into old mosaics and new meaning into Arthur, Grace invites him to assist in her creative venture. In the mosaics underground Grace and Art embark on a journey with transformational possibilities to enable them to piece together the rich pixels of the Mosaic of Life. Among fellow passengers in transit Grace and Art share a common humanity as their creative journey together begs the questions: Why do we live as we do? Where does real joy reside? How shall we endow being with meaning? In the inspiring humanity of the mosaics underground they find the City is the Grand Artisan piecing together its own mosaic masterpiece with the shards of human experience. The power of perception and literary style of Lentz are reminiscent of Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas," Dostoyevsky's "Notes from Underground" and Pessoa's "Book of Disquiet." The book portrays 50 original photographs in full-color of masterpiece mosaics of the New York City Subway.