Wild Dreams of Reality Category:  Literary Fiction Publisher: Creative Arts Book Co. ISBN-10:  0887393632 Type: Fiction Pages: 182 Copyright: 2001 A novel of love, obsession, and liberation. Philip Janov, a middle-aged Realtor and poet, begins his escape back to life and freedom after fifteen years in a sour marriage; an escape that calls into question what his life has been about, forcing a re-examination of family loyalty and allowing him to become the person he truly is inside. At the same time, Philip's older brother Darrell struggles to hold on to the wife he has suffocated with his controlling nature. As one man's life comes together, the other's falls apart. Jerry Ratch knows how to mix a potent brew of magic mushrooms, dead bodies, jealous suitors, drinking binges, and midnight escapades in green trucks and red Saabs. It is a story that is rich with atmosphere and insight into the human spirit.    -- This publisher of this book went out of business. The author retains all rights. The book is available for re-issue. Contact the author directly.  Excerpt "I became a fool for Adrienne Parker the first moment I set eyes on her. Whenever Parker walked into Oliveira's Cafe my breath would stop. I'd try turning away, then find my gaze locked on her face. Maybe it was her bare arms that I found so appealing, or else her long hair and then those muscular arms, but in truth it was the animal in her body as well. Definitely it was there, in the way she moved when she walked by. What I know beyond question is that I felt powerless under this spell - I was attracted by the pure feeling of being alive again, in my own body, in my soul. That's what felt so thrilling, because I had become like a dead man on the inside for the past dozen years. This new feeling was the oddest sensation. I wasn't at all sure which direction to turn, and I became trapped in a dilemma part way between something that felt spiritual and something that felt physical."

Jacket Blurb
"The almost, but not quite innocent directness of Ratch's savvy little novel is irresisible to me. I read it in a sitting. I'm glad real writers still want to write books this way." - Richard Ford

Jacket Blurb
"Jerry Ratch's novel of low-jinks in Berkeley goes off like a packet of Chinese firecrackers, and never stops popping." - Oakley Hall, author of Downhill Racers and Warlock

A Stupendous Accomplishment
A Stupendous Accomplishment
Robert Hughes , composer, conductor, SF Symphony.

I just finished WILD DREAMS OF REALITY, and it was a wonderful pleasure. The thing that is most apparent is the clean style: nothing superfluous, and you're going along in such a direct, clean way. I found myself going from the rather pensive cafe atmosphere at the beginning, to be continually crescendoed, almost like Ravel's 'Bolero' as the book went on; and it activated so much, with the new pace constantly increasing. So that by the time I found out the surprise in store for us at the ending, I just couldn't put it down. I was going to leave a few last chapters last night, and instead stayed up until I finished it, propelled to the end. It's a stupendous accomplishment, and a wonderful publication with Sherry Karver's picture on the cover. I hope Ratch has great success with it. It was certainly a great success with me.