Tales From The Soft Underbelly Of Confusion

What does it mean to have a personality that is slightly skewed? I am not speaking of one that throughout its "earthly" tenure exhibits qualities of excess, be they psychosomatic, anal, psychotic, delusional, or narcissistic; I am speaking of a personality that on occasion, given the depth of emotional entrapment, takes matters to the edge of predictable behavior and beyond, thus shedding light upon the darkness lurking there. Although these qualities might, at times, apply to some or all of the main characters here, they primarily serve as the necessary, yet "impure", ingredients for the alchemist's journey; and as such, they point out the twists and turns of hints and allusions, the oddness of the plots, and, of course, the suggestion of larger, more intangible issues. In Tales from the Soft Underbelly of Confusion, character impurities-and our rigorous attempt to sublimate and repress them-are subtle reminders of the cosmic hoop through which we jump to keep our world ordered and "sane".

What does it mean to have a personality that is slightly skewed? I am not speaking of a personality that throughout its earthly tenure exhibits qualities of excess, be they psychosomatic, psychotic, delusional, or narcissistic; I am speaking of a personality that on occasion, given the depth of emotional entrapment, takes matters to the edge of predictable behavior and beyond, thus shedding light on the darkness lurking within. Although these qualities might, at times, apply to some or all of the main characters here, they primarily serve as the necessary, yet impure, ingredients for the alchemists journey; as such, they point out the twists and turns of hints and allusions, the oddness of the plots, and, of course, the suggestion of larger, more intangible issues. In The Long and the Short of It, character impuritiesand our rigorous attempt to sublimate and repress themare subtle reminders of the cosmic hoop through which we jump to keep our world ordered and sane.

PETER BARBIERIS mesmerizing Book One of his trilogy depicts the resentment, suspicion, and intrigue that direct the lives of one Native American family living in North America prior to the European invasion. Book One begins with the birth of a son and ends with two brothers fi ght-to-the-death. The Purple Sky is an account of EMILY MADDINGs (b. 1765, d. 1857) dreamvisits to a small Native American village. In a manner most mysterious and uncanny, Emily lives the life of PALE-MOON, one of the villages women. Emily defi nes her relationship with Pale-Moon in this way: It is as if I am here now, on the tenth of January, 1806, sitting at my desk, living a life as wife and mother a life with a memory, history, and a fancied future and yet I am vaguely aware of a ubiquitous presence hovering in an indefi nable space; a presence that connects me to all that has been and to all that will be. In so far as the Native American woman is concerned, Emily is her ubiquitous presence, and she [Pale-Moon] is to a certain extent aware of it. Through Emily, Pale-Moon narrates the compelling story of her peoples struggle to maintain a harmonious existence within a world teetering on the brink of transfi guration. BARBIERIS previous works of fictionTales From the Soft Underbelly of Confusion, a collection of short stories, and Tree Of Dreams, a novelwere published by iuiverse in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Peter Barbieri received his doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He completed his post-doctoral studies with Luciano Berio in Florence, Italy. For the past twenty-fi ve years, Barbieri has been touring the United States and Europe as pianist/ accompanist for the Nancy Spanier Dance Company. Currently, Dr. Barbieri is the executive director of the ijamjazz summer jazz camp in Bonefro, Italy and teaches Jazz Th eory and Improvisation in Boulder, Colorado.

Peter Barbieris final novel in his trilogy continues with EMILY MADDINGs journal; in it, Emily documents PALE-MOONs narration of life in her [Pale-Moon] ninth-century Native American village. Pale-Moons connection to Emily, a woman living in the nineteenth century, enables the two women to dream-travel to each others time-band. Thus begins a celestial relationship that endures for centuries. Emily frequently dream-travels to the ninth-century village and is present during the birth and much of the subsequent twenty-year life of Pale-Moons nephew TEH-GHUT-SA. The narration recounts the periods during which Teh-Ghut-Sa undertakes two vision quests: the first at age thirteen; the second at age twenty. As events unfold, an imbalance in the interstellar positive-negative polarity develops. Emilyher ability to dream-travel to time-bands within the past, present, and futurereveals several possibilities that would result if the balance tips in favor of the negative polarity. If the imbalance were to progress unaltered, mayhem and death would result. When Teh-Ghut-Sa, age twenty, returns from his second vision quest, he becomes the target of a negative-polarity plot. The confrontation's eventual outcome will affect the lives of all beings residing in the known universe. A more immediate consequence: the stream of consciousness that had given rise to the mind-consciousness of many village inhabitants would be obliterated, along with the lives of those connected to it.

The moving, inspiring story of Al, the ungainly, unruly, irresistible Newfoundland puppy who grows up to become a daring rescue dog and super athlete—part of Italy's elite, highly specialized corps of water rescue dogs who swoop out of helicopters and save lives. Lynne Cox—acclaimed best-selling author of Swimming to Antarctica—is internationally famous for swimming the world’s most difficult waterways without a wet suit, and able to endure water temperatures so cold that they would kill anyone else, recognizes and celebrates all forms of athleticism in others, human or otherwise. And when she saw a video of a Newfoundland dog leaping from an airborne helicopter into Italian waters to save someone from drowning, Cox was transfixed by the rescue, and captivated by the magnificence, physicality, and daring of the dog. Tales of Al is the moving, inspiring story of Cox’s adventures on Italy’s picturesque Lake Idroscalo, as witness to the rigorous training of one of these spectacular dogs at SICS, the famed school that has taught hundreds of dog owners how to train their dogs—Newfoundlands, German shepherds, and golden retrievers—for this rescue operation. Cox writes about coming to know the dog at the book’s center, Al herself, from puppyhood, an adorable but untrainable chocolate Newfoundland—about the dreams, expectations, disappointments, and vision of her trainer and about realizing the dog’s full potential; striving with all of her canine might to become an expertly trained, highly specialized water rescue dog.

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

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