Reviews of PORTRAITS OF AN IMAGINARY YOUNG MAN by Sol Luckman

An Alternate Way of Viewing Life

Janet Pearson for Apex Reviews, Durham, North Carolina

In PORTRAITS OF AN IMAGINARY YOUNG MAN, Book III of the BEGINNER'S LUKE Series, Luke Soloman arrives in the aptly-titled Endurance, Rhode Island--aptly titled because of all that Soloman will soon endure there.

As the story opens, we find the unflappable protagonist sporting flannel, while at the same time letting his hair grow and ceasing to shave. In his own words, he has become a "slacker," and he soon slacks off to find a suitable abode from which to continue to his ongoing trek down the road of self-discovery.

After a few false starts--including being mugged by a prostitute--Soloman finally takes up with Malcolm Valkery, a prophetic artist and kindred spirit that soon becomes a virtual brother to Soloman. The two room together in the Funhouse, which houses both Malcolm's studio and an assorted bunch of characters, and which is owned by a Mafia boss who also serves as mayor of the town.

During his extended stay with Malcolm, Soloman gains a wealth of knowledge and experience that helps him greatly in his quest. His eyes are opened to an alternate way of viewing his own life, and his heart is opened to a better way of managing his own feelings. He even meets quite the interesting character at a Halloween party one night, who quickly reveals to him two astonishing truths about himself that change him forever. Ultimately, Soloman realizes that he has Malcolm to thank for reawakening him to who he is and what he's about, making him commit to writing again.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and, when Malcolm suddenly dies, Soloman is once again thrust full-on into his introspective journey, searching for the meaning of yet the latest tragic turn of his life, yeaming to see who's truly pulling the strings behind the cosmic puppet show. As PORTRAITS OF AN IMAGINARY YOUNG MAN closes, Soloman finds that the remaining vestiges of optimism loosely embedded in his spirit may very well give way to a coarsening cynicism that could prove inescapable ... readers' curiosity will undoubtedly be piqued until Book IV to see if this looming downward spiral proves itself irreversible.

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LoKi Heimdall, Lisbon, Portugal

First off, what the heck is PORTRAITS OF AN IMAGINARY YOUNG MAN? Okay, it's a book--let's start simple. It's a story (still simple). But it's also a self-referential autobiography of a fictional character written by an imaginary author. Now we're getting closer ... Not being used to writing reviews, I will concern myself not with the literary content of the BEGINNER'S LUKE Series, of which PORTRAITS is Book III of VI, but the subjective experience of reading it.

Having read postmodernist (God, I hate these pigeonholes) materials from Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Palahniuk and more, I thought my mind would be quite prepared to take on this Series. Before starting, I was also quite convinced that I was sane. However ...

Every chapter in the Series takes a less-trodden road than its parent chapter, and trust me, Chapter 1 of Book I is already WAY out there. The reader is taken on a fantasy magical mystery tour through the damaged (?) mind of a person who does not exist. Worst of all, it all makes sense, and on a very personal level. Hence I believed I was sane. The Series proves otherwise.

Fueled by the reader's cognitive dissonance, the fictitious author has created a tome which is in essence the cure to the disease it carries and transmits to the reader. The only way to process the information in any given chapter is to move on to the next, which DOES in fact heal the damage done--yet creates its own new damage to the reader's internal equilibrium which again is cured by the next chapter ... ad infinitum (or at least to the end of the Series).

In short, the sweet, sweet madness of the BEGINNER'S LUKE Series proves that books are indeed better than needles--but only just!

Request your FREE copy of PORTRAITS OF AN IMAGINARY YOUNG MAN today!

[Sol Luckman is author of the internationally acclaimed nonfiction CONSCIOUS HEALING: BOOK ONE ON THE REGENETICS METHOD and the BEGINNER'S LUKE Series of novels. Luke's signature obsessions with self, sex, satire and slapdash highlight a serious, and life-changing, point: consciousness creates. The point is there is a point to living in the imagination–for only through it can we reinvent our ourselves and our world. Currently, the author is giving away FREE copies of Books I-III of the BEGINNER'S LUKE Series. To take advantage of this FREE offer, click here.]