Fiction-Stories – Page 5 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Moses, Man of the Mountain: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | September 5, 2022September 5, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In Western and Middle-Eastern thought, undergirded by three monotheistic faiths, the Moses story carries overarching significance. It tells of liberation from bondage and the struggle of living with that freedom. It tells of the temptations to lapse into prior, seeming comforts of slavery. It tells how freedom, best exercised, consists of communing with a transcendent yet imminent God. This story is taught to children regularly in synagogues, churches, and mosques the world over. For those…

Fiction-Stories

A Tangled Mercy: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | August 27, 2022August 27, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Known for its history and beauty, Charleston, South Carolina, is one of my favorite places in the United States. My favorite Charlestonian of all time (besides my wife) is Denmark Vesey, who led a failed slave revolt in 1822. He left my church in Charleston (Second Presbyterian Church) to help found Mother Emmanuel AME Church – the same church that hosted a horrific Bible study in 2015 that ended when a white racist murdered nine…

Fiction-Stories

Breach: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | August 20, 2022August 20, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Some of us bear continual hardships that others might never encounter. Marleigh Mulcahy is one of these people. Both her parents are addicted to alcohol, and she was raised in a boxing gym by her grandfather. She is working through school to be a dental technologist, but has to work several jobs to make ends meet. Her grandfather fades into dementia and eventual death. Life seems stacked against her. While in the gym, she meets…

Fiction-Stories Society

The Man Who Lived Underground: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | July 27, 2022July 27, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In the 1940s, Richard Wright published two seminal works (Black Boy and Native Son). Both dealt with the topic of race in America. Wright also wrote another full-length work (this one), but it was rejected by publishers for being too controversial about race. However, during the recent Black Lives Matter movement, many saw the censorship of this book as being a historical injustice that needed correction. So in 2021, this story was published for the…

Fiction-Stories Society

Passing by Nella Larsen

By Scott J. Pearson | July 21, 2022July 21, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This short classic, set in New York City, was originally published in 1929 during the Harlem Renaissance. It examined the phenomenon of “passing” – a black person acting as a white person. Of course, the American context has changed significantly since 1929. The concept of race is now, thankfully, widely considered a social construct, without any biological merit. The concept of passing, though still present on occasion, is less of an issue. Nonetheless, Larsen gives…

Fiction-Stories

Assassin’s Lullaby

By Scott J. Pearson | July 16, 2022July 16, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Eli Dagan has a history. He used to work for the Israeli Defense Force (the Mossad), but could not continue psychologically after he witnessed the brutal murders of his wife and only child. He now conducts life as a paid assassin in New York City with very transactional and survival-oriented relationships. Though no longer needing the money, he takes a job offered to him by the Russian mafia that leads to death, love, and perhaps…

Fiction-Stories Indie Kids

The Bridge of Little Jeremy

By Scott J. Pearson | June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Little Jeremy is a 13-year-old young man from Paris. He enjoys painting and the visual arts. He is homeschooled because of a heart condition. His mother works hard at a nursing home to support their family, and his father died previously in war. Little Jeremy and his dog Leon stay home for most of the day, but explore the downtown area around their apartment flat near Notre Dame cathedral. His mother is in a big…

Fiction-Stories HIV/AIDS Humanities

The Great Believers: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | June 20, 2022June 20, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

I find the topic of HIV and AIDS absolutely fascinating – from the horrific sufferings of gay men to its origins in Haiti and Africa, from the elusiveness of the virus away from antivirals to biomedical efforts to limits its transmission, from AZT and HAART therapy to bone marrow transplants, from political stigma and oppression by GOP leaders to GOP efforts to cure the African epidemic, from the frustrating story of decades-long search for an…

Fiction-Stories Management-Business Mentoring

Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable

By Scott J. Pearson | June 9, 2022July 24, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

A key way to develop careers is forming a mentoring relationship. To facilitate this, a mentor has to gain specific skills, and a mentee, likewise, has to possess certain skills. Although this relationship can make a healthy career, not a lot of conversation about this topic exists, even in education circles. In this work, Zachary and Fischler try to examine traits that make mentoring relationships work. They do so through a fable (or allegory) that…

Fiction-Stories

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

By Scott J. Pearson | May 9, 2022May 9, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

I was supposed to read this classic as a senior in high school. Instead, I read the Cliff’s Notes version. Knowing what I know now, I would have read this book on its own. It stands as one of the greatest pieces of fiction in the English language, certainly one of the greatest pieces set in America. Steinbeck rightfully won a Pulitzer Prize for it, and eighty years later, it evokes deep feelings of human…