Title: Homage to Luxenben,

Subtitle: Adventures on a Utopian Planet

Author: Dan Hurwitz
Website: www.homagetoluxenben.org
Genre: literary science fiction
ISBN: 978-0-615-59517-7

 

REVIEW OF “HOMAGE TO LUXENBEN,
ADVENTURES ON UTOPIAN PLANET”

Rebellious, highly erratic, nineteen-year-old Neuman carries the world’s miseries on his shoulders. And, as a fervently religious teacher of Hebrew, he is likewise dismayed by the way his fellow Jews regularly violate the demanding rituals of Talmudic law. In his daily prayers, the troubled Neuman implores God to help him reconcile these abominations with his proclaimed love for mankind. But to no avail. God remains immutable and the conundrum continues to haunt the young man. Then, quite by accident, he stumbles upon the following classified ad in his Sunday paper.

EMPLOYMENT, MISCELLANEOUS

FULL-TIME SPECIMEN WANTED

Male human being between ages of fifteen and twenty-one wanted for display in Luxenben’s prestigious zoological garden. DUTIES: During working hours, specimens are simply required to stroll about the zoo’s extensive grounds and make themselves visible to the zoo’s visitors. When directly encountering visitors, specimens may be called upon to exchange pleasantries, to pose for pictures, and/or graciously accept little bags of nuts when proffered. Mondays and Tuesdays off aside from occasional evening viewings for zoo benefactors. Participation in animal-act per­formances strictly voluntary. First class food and lodging. Rapid promotion to trustee possible. Among trustee privileges are guided tours providing first-hand exposure to the flawless workings of Luxenben’s utopian civilization. QUALIFICATIONS: Good moral character rooted in religious belief. Sociable disposition, natural rapport with children, and ability to relate to fellow inmates of dramatically diverse physiologies. Desirous of quiet, comfortable lifestyle, liking for solitude, and unmarried. Reply to Box E-19 with current photo.

From this single post, Neuman jumps to a number of improbable assumptions: One, the ad was the response from God that he had been praying for. Two, he was among the first to learn that God, being fed up with mankind’s scurrilous behavior and disappointed by the lapses committed by his chosen people, had decided to abandon humanity in favor of a more civilized and obedient population. Three, Neuman’s mission was to go to Luxenben to lay the groundwork for God’s relocation there by converting the natives to Judaism, God’s one and only true faith. Four, the conundrum that so puzzled him was now explained, or, more accurately, demolished. Earthquakes, tidal waves, wars, and so on were obviously God’s way of cleaning house prior to his departure.

Neuman applies for the job advertised and, as he expected, succeeds in winning it. He is given directions to a secluded site where he is to procure transportation. A slipup occurs, however, when the spacecraft sent to pick up Neuman inadvertently sweeps up an uninvolved observer as well, the middle-aged, conservative businessman, Stelzer. When the two men arrive at Luxenben, a second inexplicable turn of events takes place. It is Stelzer who is comfortably quartered in the zoo, whereas Neuman is whisked off to the Research Campus of Space Ventures, Inc., the planet’s largest interplanetary trading company. There Neuman is held incommunicado within its Product Development Division.

Thanks to his native skill at assimilation, Stelzer rapidly accomodates himself to life in the Zoological Garden devoted to Semi-intelligents such as himself. He is promoted to trustee, abides contentedly in his apartment, and, out of natural curiousity, studies how the planet functions. He is soon impressed by its coherent political, economic, social, and religious systems all based on a bedrock philosophical premise—i.e., the recognition that intelligent beings, no less than other animals, are subservient to the rule of nature. Accordingly, Luxenben’s political system is modeled on the workings of the mammalian brain with its separate autonomic and voluntary circuitry. Proposals for new laws percolate from the bottom tiers of society upward until being finally vetted by a rotating panel of experts—all without the necessity of legislative or executive involvement. Likewise, the planet’s economic, social, and religious institutions bear little resemblance to their counterparts on earth—that is to say, the planet’s efficacious systems lead to happiness and prosperity for all its inhabitants.

Neuman, meanwhile, emerges from Research mysteriously altered, but as messianic as ever. Despite their differences, he and Stelzer become close friends. Neumna marries a native girl and seems set for a normal family life when Space Ventures, at its annual meeting, announces that it has selected the young man to lead an expedition to instill Luxenben’s nature-based religion on earth. The company hopes that this first attempt to rationalize a Semi-intelligent planet will make it legally eligible to buy Luxan advanced technology. If successful, the experiment, when repeated elsewhere, will enable the firm to expand its sales territory and fatten profits. But Stelzer fears the campaign will prove highly dangerous for his friend and the book ends in a cascading series of surprises as the older man valiantly attempts to thwart the launch.

Not your usual science fiction.

~Author Dan Hurwitz also blogs at writersnotebook.org .

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Donna Monroe Calls Supernatural Thriller a Must-Read

The Hand of God
By Tony Acree

Author site: http://tonyacree.com/

Genre: Supernatural Thriller / Urban Fantasy
ISBN is 978-0615754550

Reviewed by Donna Monroe originally for Amazon.com.

 

The book The Hand of God written by the Kentucky author Tony Acree is a masterfully crafted thriller that has something for everyone. I was hooked the moment I read the first page and was pleasantly surprised every page after as I tried to anticipate how it would end! The supernatural aspects of the book range from vampires all the way to the Devil himself. However, these supernatural portrayals are unlike any you have read or seen before! The star of the book, the lead character Victor McCain, will leave you at moments laughing to painfully struggling along side as he tries to save his brother, Mikey, without compromising his beliefs.

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Carl Hiassen's YA Novel Gets Heads Up

Title: Chomp

Author: Carl Hiassen

Author's Web site link: http://www.carlhiaasen.com

Genre: Young Adult Urban, 10 and up

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (March 27, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0375868429

ISBN-13: 978-0375868429

 

Reviewed by Jack B. Downs

 

The Story

Wahoo McCroy is your average bemused middle schooler, minus a thumb lost in a feeding accident to a family pet. Distracted as he offered Alice the alligator a whole chicken, he noticed too late that she’d mistaken his appendage for part of the meal. Such is life growing up in a reptile zoo.

Wahoo’s dad Mickey is also suffering the effects of an animal attack – of sorts. Seems he was beaned by a frozen iguana as it tumbled from its tree roost. Life running a reptile zoo creates challenges both logistical and financial. Running low on flow because of his extended recuperation, Mickey takes a contract with Expedition Survival, and uber-popular man-dropped –in-the-wild-to-pit-himself-against-nature story. Then the fun truly begins.

Derek, the star of the series, is a schizophrenic showman, who doesn’t hesitate to down roadkill for his audience, but uses stunt doubles for some of the dangerous stuff, and whose contract includes being airlifted out of the backcountry every night to a five-star resort. When he falls in love with the Everglades on location and decides to use all-wild animals, rather than the yawning reptiles in Mickey’s zoo, he drags along Mickey and Wahoo to assist. Wahoo brings along his friend Tuna, a girl suffering abuse at the hands of a drunken and deranged father.

The escapades that fill out the book as the drunken father chases his daughter and crew into the swamp, the star of the show is bitten by a bat and has a hallucinatory conversion, and Wahoo and Mickey first are the hunters, and then the hunters, lead to a surprising climax. Let’s just say the characters we thought we knew assume more….character.

 

Downs' Review

I Read it in two nights. That’s probably my equivalent of five stars. I should say I’ve been reading Carl Hiassen for years, ever since I stumbled across the unforgettable and provocatively titled “Skinny Dip.” This author always delivers, and I am reminded of a younger Tom Robbins, without the author intrusion, but with all the clever pacing and the quirky characters that seem to be goofy to be totally fictionalized. The young runaway, Tuna, for example, is predictably dodgy, suspicious, and proud. But she is also an expert at the Latin names for the dazzling flora abounding in the deep Everglades.

Derek the “survivalist,” who turns out to be anything but, is a contradiction in the book. He is in many spots a simpering, egotistical fool. When he leaps onto Alice though, for what turns out to be the ride of his life, he displays his reckless, extreme side. They are a little hard to reconcile for me.

This is the second novel for young readers of Hiassen’s I have read. To tell the truth, when I read “Flush,” another of his young adult novels, I’m not sure I even realized it was young adult. Hiassen’s clever characters and rapid-fire dialogue migrate well from such adult works of his as “Nature Girl” and “Strip Tease” to the high-action pacing of his YA works.

Hiassen also manages, in the manner of “Rivers of Grass,” the rallying cry to save the Everglades by Marjorie Douglas, to paint his action on a rich, Technicolor backdrop of a land he clearly loves and yearns to protect. Hiassen’s main characters are those very close to the bottom of the 99 percent, whose resilience, bravery, and inventiveness cause me to look more closely at what I think I know. In that sense, “Chomp,” like the rest of his writing, is subversive. The world I see is more clearly focused, and that’s not a bad consequence of a good read.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Recommended to Children of the First Half Of Last Century

Title: Amidst The American Dreams
Author: Stephan James Gathings
Website: http://noveltimes.webs.com
Category: Fictional Love story
ISBN: 978-1-4560-5774-9 (Softcover)
ISBN: 978-1-4560-5773-2 (Hardcover)
Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Amidst-American-Dreams-Stephan-Gathings/dp/145605774X/
Pages: 448

Reviewed by Doc originally for Amazon
 Reviewer's rating: 5.0 stars 



I don't usually do this, but I wanted to recommend this novel to anyone who is a child of the first half of this past century. Not only is this book a great read, but also it is the type of novel that makes you want to get back to it as soon as you can to find out what's going to happen next. It is truly an emotional roller coaster, moving back and forth between comedy and epic-level tragedy -- from the high-jinx of high school to the gruesome carnage of the Vietnam war, from the innocence of first love to the heartbreak of divorce and the spectre of untimely death.
Steve Gathings is an excellent storyteller, who in this novel weaves the threads of a number of lives into the fabric of fiction, a fiction that is very real to so many of us from the "baby boomer" generation. Readers will find a little of themselves in this mirror of a time long lost and much missed, a time when we were young but didn't know it
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Jeremy Griffith Seeks to Transform the Human Race

Title: Freedom

Author: Jeremy Griffith
Author’s website: http://www.worldtransformation.com/freedom/
Genre/category: Science/Philosophy
ISBN: 978-1-74129-008-0

A book for our time

The front cover boldly claims, ‘At last, the Liberation and Transformation of the Human Race Through the Finding of Understanding of the Human Condition’ (http://www.worldtransformation.com/freedom/).

Confrontation and compassion, exposed and liberated, discomfort and defensiveness, explained and understood, shock and excitement. These are the range of emotions I encountered reading Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith’s latest work, ‘Freedom’ – a book for our time with deep significance for all humans. It is the zenith of Griffiths 30 years spent studying, unravelling and explaining the human condition.

As early as the fourth paragraph Griffith gives context to and insight into the realm being explored - a realm few have dared penetrate. It reads, ‘To briefly explain what the human condition is, it arises from our species’ capacity for what has been called ‘good and evil’. Humans are capable of great kindness, empathy and love, but we are also capable of horrific atrocities like rape, murder and torture. Our human predicament or ‘condition’ has been that because we have never before been able to explain and thus understand where our species’ capacity for acts of shocking inhumanity comes from we each carry a deep, now almost subconscious, insecurity and sense of guilt about our value and worth as humans. Are we good or are we bad? Even in our everyday behaviour, why are we humans competitive, aggressive and selfish when clearly the ideals are to be the complete opposite, namely cooperative, loving and selfless?’

‘Freedom’ is our story, both as a species and as individuals told in first principle biology, truthfully, compassionately and comprehensively. It may leave you in a state of initial shock and awe; such is the nature of the subject matter and the power of the explanation being presented.

However these works cannot be dismissed. The importance of the claims and the implications for our future warrant full consideration and debate as Professor Harry Prosen, former President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association stated, ‘I have no doubt this biological explanation of Jeremy Griffith’s of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race. I cannot urge you strongly enough to listen to what Jeremy Griffith has to explain’.

Griffith’s vitae is impressive. Raised in rural New South Wales, Australia, Griffith- a biologist began writing about the human condition in 1975. Since then he has written six books, including the 2003 Australasian bestseller, the revealingly titled ‘A Species in Denial’. ‘Freedom’ the subject of this review, is Griffith’s definitive work, his comprehensive and complete treatise on the biological explanation and amelioration of the human condition. It was first published as an e book in 2009 with extensive additions and editing in 2012.

‘Freedoms’’ timeliness and significance cannot be underestimated. As Australian journalist Richard Neville ominously and accurately described the state of the world, ‘The world is hurtling to catastrophe: from nuclear horrors, a wrecked ecosystem, 20 million dead each year from malnutrition, 600 million chronically hungry…All these crises are man-made, their causes are psychological. The cures must come from this same source; which means the planet needs psychological maturity…fast. We are locked in a race between self - destruction and self-discovery’. (Good Weekend Magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 Oct 1986).

We live in a world with levels of anger, desperation and despair not seen before; where greed is endemic and the gap between the have and the have nots has never been wider, a world where religious wars rage, where the left and right wing in politics seem irreconcilably polarised, where the nightly news is too horrific to watch, where children as young as seven are being prescribed ADHD drugs and where new age movements, band aid solutions and ‘causes’ have become rife, proclaiming to save the environment, save your soul or save the world.

For all of our species collective achievements in science, religion, philosophy and psychiatry in their endeavour to understand and explain our world and the polarities of life - good and evil, love and war, science and religion, men and women, left wing and right wing, instinct and intellect, socialism and capitalism our destructive..., the stark reality is we are still ‘locked in a race between self - destruction and self-discovery’.

The world is in desperate need for unifying and real answers and solutions to the underlying cause of these problems we face.

From this seemingly hopeless and despairing path to ‘self-destruction’, ‘Freedom’ presents this long sought after and desperately needed ‘self-discovery’. It presents the complete solution to real ‘peace on earth’ – through full biological explanation and understanding of our human condition that leads to the amelioration of that condition.

‘Freedom’ is broken into a number of sequential and easy to navigate parts taking the reader on a fascinating journey of discovery and enlightenment. Its explanatory power, grounded in first principle biology leads the reader through the psychological maturation of humanity, both collectively and individually. To try and summarise the close to 1000 pages in this short review can in no way do justice to the content but what I will say is that the profound questions such as what is the meaning of life, how we acquired our conscience or ‘moral soul’, the development of consciousness and the origins of the human condition are completely explained. Explained compassionately in a way that will deeply resonate with you about what it is to be human. Equally significant are the transforming implications addressed by Griffith in subsequent sections. The ability to now understand our human condition, in particular the dark side of our nature, liberates us from our underlying insecurity and sense of guilt, relieving and healing our condition, which ends the cycle of destruction plaguing our planet, transforming our world as we know it.

There are a handful of books that have withstood history’s litmus test – literary works that strike a deep chord in our psyche and transcend our day to day lives. They cut a swathe through life’s clutter and become timeless through generations by enlightening us, adding meaning to and explaining the world we live in and who we are. They leave a lasting imprint on the reader. Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’, the ‘Bible’, Plato’s ‘Republic’ and the ‘Iliad’ attributed to Homer have all contributed to humanity’s knowledge bank.

In time ‘Freedom’ will not only stand alongside these literary monuments, it will have such a profound and transformative effect on humanity that its importance will be unsurpassed. This claim may sound preposterous, however it is only upon reading ‘Freedom’ that you are able to comprehend and experience the depth of truth that Jeremy Griffith has explained about our human condition.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Who Needs A Man? Reviewed for UK Amazon

Title: Who Needs A Man?

By E.J. Russell
Authors Web site: http://emmajanerussell.wix.com/books
Genre: Chick lit/humour
ISBN: 978-1481833844
Available on Amazon UK

Reviewed by Maggie May, originally for Amazon

I read this second offering from E.J. Russell with delight! From the serious and fascinating notes on the growth of your baby inside you, to the hilarious and, at times, painful honesty of the way all of us must have felt at least some of the time in regard to men! More please!!!

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Thought of PREtirement? This Book Will Help

Title: Ready for PREtirement

Subtitle: Everything You Need To Know Now So Your Money Is There When YOu Need It

Author: Kris Miller

Genre: Nonfiction/Finance/Business

 

“Ready For PREtirement: Everything You Need To Know NOW So Your Money Is There When You Need It is a comprehensive guide designed to help you plan for retirement NOW. Retirement planning can be scary, confusing and overwhelming, especially if you wait until you’re faced with a family medical emergency. It is during these unexpected situations that people often make foolish decisions because of the stress and pressure to make a quick choice.

But a little planning goes a long way. The worksheets and tools included in “Ready For PREtirement” make it easy to get started. Learn how to create a Living Will and a Living Trust. Designate Guardians for your young children and make sure that your family is cared for, even if you can’t be here to take care of them yourself.

While older people have pressing financial planning issues related to age and health, retirement planning isn’t just for Seniors. Author Kris Miller taps into her vast Estate Planning experience and explains why you should get started now – even in your 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s.

“Ready For PREtirement” is designed to offer – in easy-to-understand terms – an overview of all the financial decisions that everyone will need to make at some point in their lives. From writing a will to creating a trust, from the proper way to hold property to selecting low-risk investments, this book provides necessary financial guidance for everyone. For those who haven’t even started their PREtirement planning yet, “Ready For PREtirement,” will serve as the first step.

So get started and get “Ready For PREtirement.”

Submitted by:
Denise Cassino

"Make your book an Amazon #1 Bestseller"
Publicist & Book Marketing Specialist
skype: denise.cassino
www.BestsellerServices.com
www.mybestsellerlaunch.com

----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.