Category: Mainstream Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN-10: 158394253X
Type: Fiction
Pages: 360
Copyright: October 7, 2008
ISBN-13: 9781583942536
A three time award-winning novel based on a true story of a young man who searches for the meaning to life and meets a mysterious man.
'The Hierophant Of 100th Street' ~ "The worst neighborhood in the criminal history of New York City" ... declared the New York Times & New York Daily News. A three time award-winning novel based on a true story of a young man who searches for the meaning to life and meets a mysterious man.
It is New York City's Spanish Harlem 1960's long before computers and technology. A time unlike any other whose story could not have been written save as it happened. The author, so as to eke from memory an accurate and descriptive tempo of its streets, captures it remarkably in prose. If some aspect appears incredible or outlandish the author offers no apologies, as the peculiarities of those remarkable events speak for themselves.
Excerpt
The next day Adam took his kid brother to Central Park. And John spotting a butterfly ran after it. He then found a caterpillar and held it to the sun.
“ Adam, how do they turn into butterflies?” he asked, squinting.
“ For years they drag their bodies on the ground until the day they’re set free by God.”
“ Wow, from the dirty ground up to the air?”
“ Yeah, like angels.”
“ Where do angels come from?”
“ From years of dragging their bodies on the ground like men.”
.................................
One day walking with his friend Adam said, “Did you know that every star is a nuclear sun blasting in another solar system?” Abba was silent by the mysterious mood his friend sometimes exhibited. “There’s a billion things happening up there,” he continued. “The heavens are replete with hieroglyphics. And none of us remembers how to read.”
“ What do you think it says?” Abba asked looking up at the skies.
“ It is about us it speaks. We are a fallen race of people who had forgotten our heritage. Maybe one day in a different civilization we'll find we're more than names, properties, country and flags. We are an integral part of the greater whole, which has no beginning or end. We are an inversion of infinitude."
Professional Reviews
THE HIEROPHANT OF 100TH STREET
Review by Gerald Rosen
"This book is special. An unusual and passionate novel, moving and fun to read. The Hierophant Of 100th Street somehow manages to include both heaven and hell. Cullen Dorn really is an untutored genius."
--- Gerald Rosen, author of 'Growing Up Bronx'
THE HIEROPHANT OF 100TH STREET
Review by Julie Pogue
"Cullen Dorn is a brilliant writer. Every page oozes with Dorn’s uncanny ability to richly and colorfully describe everyday scenes, bringing into focus places, sounds, and characters that may otherwise be completely foreign to his readers. For all its literary beauty, rich vocabulary, and intelligent discourse, “The Hierophant of 100th Street” is proof that one can be an extraordinary writer."
--- Julie Pogue, LibraryThing
THE HIEROPHANT OF 100TH STREET
Review by Mark Ireland
"The Hierophant of 100th Street" is a remarkable and highly unusual book. Veiled in the guise of fiction, most of what appears in Hierophant is actually a true account of the author's real-life experiences. Dorn takes the reader on an intense journey--from the desperation, violence, and passion of urban street life, to the attainment of mystical knowledge. This story is both an adventure tale and an esoteric jewel. ***** 5 Stars
Mark Ireland - author of 'Soul Shift'
Five years have passed. The sequel to the award-winning Chapel of Eternal Love, this book revisits the same couples in the first book, and where the lives have taken them since they left the altar at The Chapel of Eternal Love
