I am very fond of truth, but not at all of martyrdom.

see book decription.

      I like to think of myself as a writer, as an artist—but as of late, I find what appear to be lies in what I write.  Lies, I tell you. Lies. Lies. I look back, flipping through the tangible pages of my journals and scrolling down through the digital pages of my unfinished opuses. All I find are repulsive exaggerations; my life is a hyperbole in which embellishment is a religion and I am the clergyman.
      But no more.
     Truth is freedom and freedom is life, and lies get me no closer to my ultimate end. They are the means to which the end is miles behind, lost in the recesses of false smiles and tinkling, forced laughter. And thus, my pledge: to lie no more and to faithfully contribute to the rich store of literary truths that my idols created and compiled. Men such as Voltaire, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Bukowski—each a genius in his own right. Each an idol to a sheltered adolescent whose Christian name belies her own naïveté.
      The cataracts are torn away as my eyes devour the religion of truth set in ink before them. Sitting on the carpeted floor between the brightly lit stacks in a chain-store bookseller’s, the discovery of such genius was my conversion to truth. Meaningless hatches and dots of ill-smelling ink on cheap paper were my baptism; satire and allegories were my confirmation.

Author's Note

be gracious. it's nothing special.

Reviews

[Michael Raymond Robinso..]

Well, welcome to the Cafe first. You're mastery of the language is compelling and making this a read that held my interest as you recounted your revelation. A year back I too went through a similar awakening, thus finding this website and have since dramatically increased my number of works. Anyway, I like the "Book of Thoughts" Idea and may just have to carry on this tradition myself.

Again, I stand and applaud, "Bravo" I say, "Bravo".

[M@]

I'm surprised, not so much by what most gracious critics would call "Amazing", but by the fact that I've never run into an idea such as this. And I have to say, I'm a fan of it. A book, as you say, of thoughts, reflections, etc.

You've shown a good command over the language and in your ability to articulate them in a fashion that's not only new, but interesting to the reader. I would imagine that even if the reader holds no interest in what the subject matter, you playful seriousness of your words would keep them attached to the page to see what will come next.

I'd like to offer criticism, but I sadly can't, since this kind of thing doesn't leave much room for it. Regardless, I'm a fan.

[Kate]

You're too humble, truly. There are some fantastic things already appearing within these first few paragraphs. Already, you have established a very strong narrative voice, and, more importantly, proven your command of language. I will be reading on.