What people are saying about "On Earth As It Is":
“If you’ve ever wondered what it would have been like to be an American writer with a terrific sense of humor living in Eastern Europe during the transition between something called communism and something called democracy, look no further. In prose and poetry that evokes the high humor and loving sarcasm of the brilliant British novelist David Lodge, James George Coon turns an unflinchingly funny eye on life in Poland and the Czech lands and Hungary during the last 25 years. PS – And don't neglect to read the notes at the end of the book. They're a gas!”
John Guzlowski (www.amazon.com/author/johnguzlowski): Professor Emeritus of English Literature at Eastern Illinois University and prolific author of poetry, prose, literary criticism, reviews, fiction, and nonfiction. His award-winning work has appeared in many prestigious publications.
“A fantastic read! An American landing in Warsaw just after the fifty-year commie wonderland disappeared overnight. Like a true thoroughbred writer, James Coon observes what it has done to us Poles and our day-to-day lives, proving that sometimes you may be able to take the folks out of the socialism but you can’t take the socialism out of the folks. I laughed my way from beginning to end!”
Jerzy Seipp (www.seipp.pl): Polish novelist, poet, and film maker. Author of “Królewna” (The Princess), “Angielka” (The Englishwoman), and “Ostatnia Miłość” (Last Love).
"On Earth As It Is" chronicles the time when Central and Eastern Europe first awoke from the deep freeze of Communism. In that extraordinary, one-off human laboratory, a lucky few outsiders, including my humble self, were privileged to contribute to a transition of world-historical import.
It was great fun while it lasted.
That era has now passed into history, but this collection of short stories and poems remains. Employing satire, saturnalia, parody, bathos, magical realism, and general comic mayhem, they toil in service to the Greater Truth of the human condition.
At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Today the ululating nitpickers, predacious pedants, pusillanimous posers, and pablum-puking purveyors of political correctness are frolicking in a fetid slag heap of faux diversity, manufactured outrage, ersatz multiculturalism, and Group Think camouflaged as self-awareness and intellectual honesty.
"On Earth As It Is" takes direct aim at these denizens of the shallow end of the gene pool who, among other dastardly deeds, redefined literal to mean metaphorical. Yes, we do need a fresh injection of sheer lunacy to wipe out this yapping bad funk.
This book is your ticket for a glorious romp through the wondrous lands of immediate post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. Climb aboard now. This is one Crazy Train you don't want to miss!
