Clifford's Spiral is a quirkily comic literary novel. Its sardonic tone recalls the wry wisdom of Kurt Vonnegut, and its preoccupation with male centeredness is reminiscent of Philip Roth. Stroke victim Clifford Klovis tries to piece together the colorful fragments of his memories. He fusses over his lifelong curiosities about astrophysics and metaphysics, Christian faith and New Age philosophy, and why the spiral shape appears in bathtub drains and at the centers of galaxies. He has imaginary conversations and arguments with wives and lovers, as well as with Hypatia of Alexandria, René Descartes, his old mentor Reverend Thurston, and Stephen Hawking. Clifford's best teacher turns out to be his paraplegic son Jeremy, who has found his father's old letters and journals. Jeremy also wonders: Who was Clifford Olmstead Klovis?
About the Author :
Gerald Everett Jones lives in Santa Monica. Clifford's Spiral is his ninth novel. He is a board member of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC), a Film Independent (FILM) Fellow, and a winner of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Diversity Award. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the College of Letters, Wesleyan University, where he studied under novelists Peter Boynton (Stone Island), F.D. Reeve (The Red Machines), and Jerzy Kosinski (The Painted Bird, Being There). Learn more at geraldeverettjones.com.
Review :
We've seen and noted the comparison of this author by other reviewers to literary giants like Roth and Vonnegut. And we can't disagree. Yet we feel there may be yet another strata for Gerald Everett Jones, who arguably is doing the best work of his career. We predict that he lacks only a mention in the The New York Review of Books or, better yet, Oprah, to become a nationwide best-selling author. Five-plus stars to Clifford's Spiral, a true literary novel if ever there was one. We say in all seriousness that if you only read one novel this year, this should be it. - Don Sloan, Publishers Daily Reviews
Despite Clifford's grumpy uncooperative self, the reader can't help but cheer for him, hope he will release his chosen silence, and be able to speak again. Clifford is so well-drawn, and his life stories capture the reader so completely that you forgive him his vanity and selfishness, and wish the book was longer so you could hang out with him longer. Highly recommended. You will want to read this more than once.- Dorothyanne Brown, Reedsy Discovery
Following one character as he battles within his own mind might be fairly therapeutic for the reader, as will be going along on a journey of growth and development, even at an older age. Seeing the father-son relationship develop through a metaphor in the mind of Clifford was also well done by the author. - The BookLife Prize
Literary novel readers interested in a deep probe of psychological development will find Clifford's Spiral an intriguing story--hard to easily define or put down. - Diane Donovan, California Bookwatch
