"...Soooo ...what's your book....ABOUT..????"
I can't very well presume to speak for any other writers here....but me, personally,... I gotta admit to being rather stymied by that question...and it just happens to be the question upon which I can positively count whenever the topic of my work comes up in conversation.
With that in mind...I suppose that I really should try to answer that very question, stymied by it or no.
You see...I am ever in search of "the short answer" to that question...the blurb, if you will....that magical assortment of so very few words that will come together and convey an understanding of just what my book "is about"....sounds simple, right ;-)
...but let's consider the damage to a work of literature that can be done in creating 'the blurb' to tell potential readers what it's all 'about'.
For example; "orphan learns truth of his birth and travels to exotic private school' hardly does justice to the Harry Potter series...or 'obsessed cripple seeks revenge against really big whale' does little for Moby Dick...and 'boy rides raft down Mississippi river' really misses the point of Huck Finn....welll..I trust that you understand what I am saying here...and why I am so stymied when I think about trying to 'blurb' my own work.
Okay then..."How Big is ONE?"....what exactly is it "about"??? Hmmmmm...
To really answer that question, I have first to address a bit of background, of which I can't assume anyone to have prior knowledge....
In cultures that we modern humanoids might be inclined to derogatively label as 'primitive', there is a recognition of what could be called, for lack of a better term, the 'Shamanic Vision'. It is there properly regarded as a rare and mystical experience that is felt/seen and communicated only by a select and gifted few...and the knowledge gained through the experience, then communicated to others, is regarded as, again for lack of a better term, a 'Gift from God'.
It is a phenomenon as old as humanity.
In our culture, however, there is no such understanding. Any individual experiencing what, in 'primitive' cultures is recognized as the 'shamanic vision', in our society, is much more likey to be branded a lunatic....Hell, if any such individual is, in fact, perfectly sane and rational, he will think himself to be insane. That is, he will think himself to be insane if he isn't equipped with sufficient intellect and courage to grow toward understanding the experience for what it is...and then searching for the means of communicating it to others.
That, in a nutshell, is really at the heart of what "How Big is ONE?" is 'about'. I, of course, like to think that there is a great deal more to it than that....and I suppose that there really is. I mean, the amount of reading, reflection, and effort that went into my crafting of this narrative is, well...EXTENSIVE....and I wouldn't have done any of it if I didn't firmly believe in the intrinsic value of the message.
I can only hope that more of you will undertake the reading for yourselves and let me know just what meaning I was able to convey.
The work is, of course, of absolutely no value to anyone if no one reads it.
Thanks for reading :-)
--Chance
