Kindle Edition
Amazon
rfrenchnovelist
booklaunch
Category:
Literary Fiction
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-10: 1537647849
Type: Fiction
Pages: 278
Copyright: Sept 25, 2013
ISBN-13: 9781537647845
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Daniel Morley, a painter, and his wife Sonja, a photographer, move to a university campus and find themselves on the edges of a notorious scandal that eventually touches them. Can they rebuild their marriage and complete the work they planned to do?
"Surveys" takes place in the 1960's, in the shadow of a fear that the world is about to end. The setting is an imaginary university in the American Midwest. Daniel Morley, a painter in his 60's, and his wife Sonja, a photographer, come to stay at the school, in whose neighborhood Daniel spent his childhood and hasn't seen for 40 years. Along with working on paintings and photos of the area, they become involved in the doings of a demonic secret society that spreads fear and death, the worst scandal at the university in 50 years. Sonja and Daniel create a body of work there that future generations will see as a life-enhancing alternative to the influence of the death-cult.
Excerpt
Harriet had lost count of the times she’d read a note Eben Pulsifer had sent her: “I so much enjoyed the time we spent together. You sparkled with brilliance, the best company I’ve had for months. As unlikely as it seems, I believe we can form a friendship.”
She asked herself what she knew about him. They were the same age; he was divorced. Very ambitious, he wanted to be president of the university, but that was a second choice, after other avenues closed to him. It didn’t seem that he was so crude that he wanted her friendship to secure her vote. Did he actually like her? Did she like him?
She called Pulsifer: “I’ve read your note. Thanks. It’s flattering. If we keep on seeing each other, either I’ll have to resign from the committee – or you’ll have to stop dreaming of being president of the school.”
“How about if I set you up for the job instead? ” Pulsifer asked.
“Don’t think about it. That’s the poorest joke I’ve heard in months.”
“Thank you,” Pulsifer said. “I needed to know what you think. Everyone wants what’s best. But not everyone sees all the problems. Russian missiles in Cuba, tests of nuclear weapons. Sensitive people are frightened, especially young ones. Why bother to do our best if the world is about to get blown up? Why don’t we worship idols? That might do some good. Or live for a good time?”
“It sounds like you’re running for essayist-at-large,” Harriet said.
Pulsifer’s voice deepened. “What happens if weapons fall into irresponsible hands? We need to develop a new kind of person – smart, flexible, sturdy – who can live with the fears that run through mass society and help others overcome them.”
“How do you propose to build this new kind of person?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Pulsifer admitted.
“A president knows how to do things not just point to problems.”
They talked on, hardly aware of undercurrents in their conversation. They’d had a brief romance as undergraduates, then went separate ways. Old feelings revived, potentially deeper, but new romance seemed unlikely, so different were they from one another. “What do you say to dinner tonight?” Pulsifer asked.
“I was thinking about seeing Macbeth again.”
“Let’s do both,” Pulsifer offered.
Maybe he really does want a friend, Harriet thought. Like a sophomore all at sea.
|
