Diana E. Sheets
I have a Ph.D. in Modern European History from Columbia University with honors in my minor field, Literature and Politics, which I studied with Edward Said. Later, I worked in corporate sales in metro New York before relocating to the Midwest to write fiction.
My first novel, The Cusp of Dreams, is a fractured novel about ordinary Americans who quit or are fired or downsized. These individuals exhibit all the social and moral failings emblematic of our age. As the story progresses, the brutality builds. Black comedy sustains the reader. The Cusp of Dreams concludes with a nationwide firing of employees at Amtech. An epilogue, recounting the tales of many dismissed managers years later, serves as a dirge, a lament to the office of the departed. The novel was represented by a Boston literary agent in the immediate aftermath of September 11th when America sought entertainment or information, rather than fiction. The Cusp of Dreams was never published in its entirety, although it has been considered by publishers.
My second novel, American Suite, is comedy. It is the story of the lives of an American family and the reader comes to realize that this family is representative of our society. Two adult daughters and their mother each present their perspectives through their diaries. Each, in turn, writes her memoir. Readers come to understand the deceptions inherent in memoir while laughing and sighing at the folly of the American predicament. It has been called a Jewish novel and reflects my paternal heritage. American Suite was represented by a New York agent and has been read by major houses. Excerpts have been published.
Despite receiving a glowing endorsement by one of America's finest writers, neither novel has obtained a publisher. I am currently working of a third novel, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi about the loss of cultural memory.
The publishing industry has reduced its fictional offerings in recent years to the most banal, the most feminized, the most gentrified, the most formulaic, the most politically correct pabulum. Yet, its readership continues to plummet. In response, publishers have increasingly promoted nonfiction: celebrity tales, exhibitionism cum memoir, and a deluge of informational prattle. Sadly, the once wild and dynamic range of fictional offerings is no more.
In defiance of this abysmal trend, I have created LiteraryGulag.com, a blog devoted to literary criticism and political commentary. I hope to demonstrate why fiction must dispense with solipsistic preoccupations of self and love and family and begin examining the world at large. Permit me to make my case. Read my essays, mindful of the consequences.
My first novel, The Cusp of Dreams, is a fractured novel about ordinary Americans who quit or are fired or downsized. These individuals exhibit all the social and moral failings emblematic of our age. As the story progresses, the brutality builds. Black comedy sustains the reader. The Cusp of Dreams concludes with a nationwide firing of employees at Amtech. An epilogue, recounting the tales of many dismissed managers years later, serves as a dirge, a lament to the office of the departed. The novel was represented by a Boston literary agent in the immediate aftermath of September 11th when America sought entertainment or information, rather than fiction. The Cusp of Dreams was never published in its entirety, although it has been considered by publishers.
My second novel, American Suite, is comedy. It is the story of the lives of an American family and the reader comes to realize that this family is representative of our society. Two adult daughters and their mother each present their perspectives through their diaries. Each, in turn, writes her memoir. Readers come to understand the deceptions inherent in memoir while laughing and sighing at the folly of the American predicament. It has been called a Jewish novel and reflects my paternal heritage. American Suite was represented by a New York agent and has been read by major houses. Excerpts have been published.
Despite receiving a glowing endorsement by one of America's finest writers, neither novel has obtained a publisher. I am currently working of a third novel, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi about the loss of cultural memory.
The publishing industry has reduced its fictional offerings in recent years to the most banal, the most feminized, the most gentrified, the most formulaic, the most politically correct pabulum. Yet, its readership continues to plummet. In response, publishers have increasingly promoted nonfiction: celebrity tales, exhibitionism cum memoir, and a deluge of informational prattle. Sadly, the once wild and dynamic range of fictional offerings is no more.
In defiance of this abysmal trend, I have created LiteraryGulag.com, a blog devoted to literary criticism and political commentary. I hope to demonstrate why fiction must dispense with solipsistic preoccupations of self and love and family and begin examining the world at large. Permit me to make my case. Read my essays, mindful of the consequences.
Copyright 2007 Diana Sheets. All Rights Reserved.
