Carnival of Cannibals: A modern pastoral - Paperback

by James J. Houts (Author)

Jeri Singleton's hard work and intellect have brought her close to her dream of medical school, but at the cost of her young marriage. Vulnerable and alone, Jeri meets Ted Johnston, a sad and mysterious stranger who has abandoned the urban lifestyle to which she aspires. Ted has succeeded in the technological world Jeri values, yet he has lost his faith in science and technology. Drawn together irresistibly across a lonely ski slope, Ted and Jeri begin a quiet romance in the snow muted mountains of Colorado and quickly fall deeply in love. Eager to experience Carnival, Jeri convinces Ted to join a group of libertine strangers on a Mardi Gras trip to New Orleans. As their love matures, with the parties and parades of carnival cascading around them, they begin making plans for a lifetime together. But they are unaware that the emotionless gears of the modern world are grinding inevitably closer to them. Reminiscent of Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons and Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, James J. Houts takes their stylistic conventions one step further in a mesmerizing depiction of the consequences of modern, technological life. Rich in detail with expertly developed characters, Carnival of Cannibals is a poignant and effecting novel of extraordinary depth and relevance. Writers since Theocritus and Virgil have explored the conflict between art (now science) and nature. In "The Tempest," William Shakespeare placed Prospero, an accomplished scientist with command over the elemental powers, into the wilderness of an undiscovered island. Humanity's inherent dichotomy between the desire for technology and the love of nature is an enduring theme of Western literature. Never has the pastoral theme been more topical than in a world of nuclear wastes, ozone holes, Saturday night specials and the addiction of millions to refined drugs. Carnival of Cannibals brings the pastoral theme to our contemporary world.

Author Biography

Born on the threshold of Death Valley, in a remote region of California's Mojave Desert, James J Houts has traveled the world extensively, living and working in many cultures. As a student he worked his way across the United States, tending bar in desert towns, Colorado ski resorts and on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. During a long career as an chemical engineering consultant, he has lived in California, Hawaii and the Republic of the Philippines. He has worked throughout the globe and has spent a great deal of time in South East Asia and the Peoples Republic of China where he learned to speak Mandarin Chinese. He has also worked in Europe and Africa. Educated in Southern California, he received degrees in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside and a post-graduate degree in technical writing from California State University, Long Beach. His scientific work has been published in The Journal of the American Chemical Society. Although he is a born wanderer, he presently resides in Southern California.