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Publishers -- This page is for you. Regular folks are also
welcome to read...
THE DUSK OF AQUARIUS, or the Pommerson Tragedy (288 manuscript
pages) by Marty Gallanter
Offered for your consideration is THE DUSK OF AQUARIUS, a new
literary novel. Set in 1975 in the composite Catskill Mountain
town of Pommerson, New York, the book focuses on the universal
themes of fear, alienation, love, and power. But this particular
performance takes place in a society of remnant
"hippies," just after the collapse of the communes and
the back-to-the-land movement... at the dusk of Aquarius.
The tiny country town of Pommerson, founded before the American
Revolution, and, for a while, home of numerous communes and
dozens of hippies, has almost returned to its traditions. The
communes that inexplicably found their way into the tiny dairy
farming community during the summer of '72, are gone and most of
the young people who populated them have returned to the city.
Still, a few remain. A remnant hippie band whose social
headquarters is Charlie Nelson's New Town Saloon. This group of
long-haired, counter-culture people band together to create their
own society. But their subculture is not dedicated to peace, love
and freedom. Rather, it is instead as structured a social order
as any that existed in Victorian England. Every individual
fulfills a specific functional role.
The part that each portrays is determined and enforced by Vicky,
Charlie's sensual, and manipulative live-in girlfriend, the
undisputed sovereign of the New Town Saloon. Vicki is also the
wife of charismatic former hippie leader Richard, now serving a
long prison term for drug dealing. Even after having been gone
for more than two years, Richard's "presence" in
Pommerson still haunts Vicki's psyche.
On an unseasonably hot, humid day, the New Town Saloon is visited
by a stranger, a quiet man with cold eyes capable of touching
Charlie's deepest fears. At first, the visitor only comes by when
Charlie is alone. He is "Charlie's phantom," a being
that most of Charlie's friends believe to be a creation of the
bartender's compelling tendency to indulge in Genesee Ale.
In
time, the stranger appears to them all - at Vicki's 30th birthday party - and is finally identified as Michael, an emissary from
Vicki's imprisoned and long-ignored husband. Welcomed only by
Leena, the rebellious mate of a barely successful rock musician,
Michael eventually becomes a catalyst that prods the remnant
hippie society to finally self-destruct.
The story line progresses with Vicki's use of raw sex to maintain
her control over Charlie and with Leena's gentle passion for the
stranger Michael. Both are described with explicit detail.
The conflict between protagonists is heightened by the
mysterious, unexplained death of a member of the hippie
community.
I offer this novel, for original paperback or hardcover release,
as an experienced newspaper and magazine writer.
As the other pages on this site show, my credits include the New
York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, New York
Newsday, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer,
TV Guide and more.
In the published versions of my essays, the author's bio is
always very simple, something like "Marty Gallanter lives in
Tyler, MN. But future bios could read "Marty Gallanter is
the author of THE DUSK OF AQUARIUS, on your publishing
label." You can't buy that kind of publicity.
I am quite
capable of promoting my own work. I have already appeared on
numerous television talk shows, including Diane Sawyer's Prime
Time Live and the short-lived Saturday Night Connie Chung. I have
written for the American Jewish press for over a dozen years and
I am prepared to arrange for book reviews for my work in dozens
of major city American Jewish newspapers. In simple words, if you
accept this book for publication, you contract with more than a
writer but also with a professional promoter, at no extra charge.
Just wander around the WEB site for a while.
I would be happy to forward a copy of THE DUSK OF AQUARIUS at
your pleasure or, if you are on-line, transmit the chapters
electronically. I look forward to hearing from you. Send me an
e-mail at martyg@themadhatter.net.
I promise I will respond quickly.
marty gallanter
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