The Book of Changes - Book Three of the California Quartet - is a kaleidoscopic, episodic novel set in Berkeley in the late '70s. The story is built from a sequence of sharply drawn, self-contained yet thematically linked stories. Across its many vignettes (titles like The Story Revolution, The White Wings of Death, City of Light, The Gorgon 2314, The Woman in Red, The Politics of Cynicism. The book explores identity, transformation, artistic struggle, and the forces-psychological, cultural, and historical-that shape human lives. The style moves with ease between realism, surrealism, philosophy, and satire, creating a collage-like portrait of characters in moments of crisis, revelation, or reinvention. The effect is a meditative, sometimes confrontational examination of change itself, delivered with a distinctive blend of intensity, lyricism, and intellectual rigor.
About the Author :
Larry Crist is a poet, actor, artist. His work has appeared in magazines nation-wide; he is the author of two books of poetry. M. Anne Sweet is a poet, artist, painter, and musician. She is the author of five books of poetry including Nailed to the Sky and House of Muscle and Bone. Remick is a poet, novelist, essayist and teacher. He is the author of 27 books.
Review :
"Remick's mastery of the narrative craft infuses a common story line-college kid faces challenges and grows up-with an intimate sense of character and setting. Remick even reveals Beast's character in the way Beast describes other characters: "She was built like a stevedore and she wore blue and gray plaid shirts."
The Book of Changes shines in the crowded genre of coming-of-age narratives."
Melissa Wuske, ForeWord Reviews
The Book of Changes: Jack Remick
"The period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (5th century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453), or, more narrowly, from c. 1100 to 1453," sets the tone for this uniquely crafted novel dealing with change, awakenings and soul searching. Within many colleges are students who flounder and have no idea what they want to do with their futures and some who begin on one path and take another. Within the halls of Berkeley there are many whose paths we will cross, whose lives will touch us as we take the journey with them during a turbulent era, the early 70's where some are there for educational purposes while others become involved in sex, drugs, politics, love and much more leading to successes and many downfalls.
