Sunday, November 02, 2008
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
New novel - the, Art of a Meal - a not so serious look, at a very serious subject.
CRESTWOOD, KY – With the 2008 Presidential Election just two days away, and the United States of America in the grip of an economic downturn not seen since the Great Depression, maybe it’s time to look at the plight of millions of Americans who find themselves homeless and hungry.
No, this isn’t some sort of thesis written by a doctoral candidate, nor is it a serious study of the ills of society.
This is a novel about John and Betty Matthews, husband and wife, who, while struggling with their own family needs, make a good-hearted effort to alleviate the suffering facing others who are less fortunate than themselves. John Matthews is a normal everyday man who finds himself in a position where he is able to assist a group of homeless people and in doing so draws the ire of a self-serving and crooked politician. This politician has ulterior motives, one of which includes a desire to eliminate John Matthews, so he can have a chance at John’s wife, Betty.
John and Betty Matthews are each fifty-seven years old and have been happily married since they graduated from college where they met and began dating. After a life-time of honest labor they find themselves faced with a life changing choice when the company John has worked for goes out of business. During the process of changing careers and lifestyles, while opening a restaurant, they encounter challenges that not only affect them, but also strangers whom they befriend.
The tale of these two middle-class Americans is written in a humorous yet serious and lively fashion that in essence reflects the lives and struggles of many American’s today. The problems and challenges that John and Betty Matthews face in their quest can be related to by the average reader as it could be themselves they see on the pages of the book.
This novel; the, Art of a Meal combines facts and ideas, love and caring, honesty and treachery and humor and excitement, in a gripping tale that transforms a normal middle-class household to the main story on the evening television news. John and Betty Matthews find themselves thrust into a series of experiences that, while not routine, are believable, shocking, exciting, entertaining and thoughtful.
Written by Harry Lee who also writes under the pen name, Lobo, this novel includes some real-life experience with homelessness as Harry himself has spent a few nights under the stars, in the back seat of his car and on the couches of friends. This was done mostly back in the good ole long-haired, sex drugs and rock and roll days when it was called “Crashin’ Around”.
Back then it was no big deal, kind of normal, if the term normal can be used to describe those wonderful days.
Now, it’s not just “Crashin’ Around” and it’s not normal. And it’s not just wandering hippies, its – Families. Desperate people, men and women, husbands and wives and their children, with no place to call home and empty stomachs.
Can such a subject be written about in a humorous fashion? Decide for yourself.
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