Sunday, January 24, 2010

Pulitzer Prize Nominated American Writer Deserves International Audience

Thomas Sullivan’s name first caught my attention in 1993 when singer-songwriter Glenn Frey dedicated his song “I’ve Got Mine” to Mr. Sullivan for using a phrase from his novel “The Phases of Harry Moon”. The song is on Glenn Frey’s album “Strange Weather” which is a lucid and thought-provoking description of life in L.A. in the 1990’s performed with Mr. Frey’s seldom romantic urgency and transparent sound.

Several years later as I was doing research for my study on the poetry of the Eagles, Mr. Sullivan’s name again surfaced on my radar screen after reading his column “CROSS LAKE, GLENN FREY & BREATHING THE SKY”. His universe of novels, short stories, blog columns and newsletters immediately caught my attention.

Mr. Sullivan’s seminal novel “The Phases of Harry Moon” (D.P.Hutton, 1988) is the story of Harry Moon, one of four eccentric brothers descending from Irish immigrants. The reader follows the youngest brother Harry Moon from his childhood, through college and marriage. It is the story of a husband and father marginalized and driven to extinction. It is written in a satiric style but I find the book not a bit light-hearted. The book is an unusual strong character study and digs deep into Harry Moons personality with elegance, wit and grace. It is original, intelligent and powerful.

“The Phases of Harry Moon” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and is said to have a cult following. I can easily understand why. It has a timeless quality and is highly recommended.

Following “The Phases of Harry Moon” Mr. Sullivan published a number of thrillers or horror books. I’ve had the chance to read “The Water Wolf” published in 2006. I’m not familiar with the genre and leave it to the experts to judge on the book’s genre-specific quality. Putting aside genre, reading it as a novel (something I always do), he clearly empowers also this story with craftsmanship, intelligence and intellectual range.

His short stories, some of them award-winning pieces, published in various magazines are unfortunately not easily available.

Mr. Sullivan's monthly blog columns on Storytellers Unplugged weblog are of special interest and amusement. Storytellers Unplugged is a collective of professional authors and creative professionals writing about the creative process and topics related to the creative lifestyle. In his columns Mr. Sullivan goes right to the heart of the matter. In his second column “WHO?” posted January 16th, 2006 he asks where the answers come to the questions you agonize over in front of the computer screen. His approach seems to be asking the question “Who am I?” The “Who”, according to Mr. Sullivan, is always a search within yourself.

In one of his earlier columns he introduces the idea that you can divide the purpose of language (and writing) into three areas: the language of emotions, the language of things and events, and the language of ideas. The careful reader will recognize these ideas in many of his subsequent blog posts, making his columns at Storytellers Unplugged coherent.

In the columns “The PERFECT SETUP, WRITING WITH LIZARDS, AND OTHER KEYS TO INSPIRATION” of August 16th, 2009 and “SEA LIONS IN COFFINS, GETTING LOST & WRITING WITHOUT WORDS” of December 16th, 2009 (to name just a few) he intelligently discusses issues such as creativity, motivation and inspiration.

In his column WHO’S THE STIFF, THE GANG OF 5 & AN ADAM ‘N’ EVE SLEEPING BAG of January 16th, 2010 he comes back to one of his other main themes namely that creativity is pointedly about excellence. According to Mr. Sullivan, it is only in pursuit of excellence that all our senses and sensibilities come fully alive and we breathe rarefied air once again.

His thoughts on creative writing, music as well as art in general are highly relevant and interesting, and his work is obviously of great inspiration to many people. Check out the large number of comments, many from creative artists themselves, posted on his Storyteller weblog. His essays and newsletters are simply very entertaining and inspirational to his readership.

His writings celebrate the individual and freedom. According to Thomas Sullivan, independence and individualism is most often synonymous with endurance in the art. And grassroots recognition more important to enduring acceptance than media hype.

Mr. Sullivan is obviously a man of high ethical standards. His work is transparent in the sense that self-honesty is a common thread in his work. His connectivity with nature adds to his literary composure. Nature is a prime resource for him and cross country skiing a religion.

Thomas Sullivan is a crossover author and his literary scope is wide. Often this represents a challenge in terms of market acceptance and commercial potential. In the case of Thomas Sullivan I think it’s an asset.

He elaborates on this himself in the Storytellers weblog column “MAKING LOVE or BETWEEN THE COVERS (of a book)” of April 15th, 2009. For Mr. Sullivan there are no choices; he must follow his conviction and write in whatever genre he must. It’s a question of honesty, to himself and in the long run to his readership. As he writes in his abovementioned column: “Not being true to yourself is being untrue to everything else”.

I would like to put forward a proposition to his publishers: publish a collection of his work (short stories and essays) in a coherent and innovative format and make it available internationally. A new edition of "The Phases of Harry Moon" is also long overdue. His fans all over the globe deserve it.

To learn more about Thomas Sullivan go to Thomas Sullivan's homepage and his columns at Storytellers Unplugged weblog.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

this article was very interesting, I am looking forward to the next one.

Grizly

Thomas Sullivan said...

Thanks, Jan, for the thorough and insightful examination of my work and method. Only someone with a lot of life experience would have culled out that last quote you used. No other reviewer or interviewer has ever grasped the importance of that, though I always try to say it in one way or another. "Not being true to yourself is being untrue to everything else," is at the heart of fulfillment and ultimate worthiness, not to mention satisfaction and motivation. Shakespeare said it better.

And glad you found the article interesting, Bjorn. Grizly? There just has to be a story there…

Thomas “Sully” Sullivan

Jan Fredrik Lockert said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jan Fredrik Lockert said...

Thank you for supportive comments. Appreciated.

...and by the way; my dictionary translates bjørn into bear.

Jan F

Anonymous said...

Very interesting and well-written article! We are very much looking forward to your next!

Brgds Marianne

Thomas Sullivan said...

Very much appreciate the additions to your review as of this date, Jan. With over 50 of my columns on StorytellersUnpluuged.com, it is no mean feat to sort out the threads that tie things together. You have the scholar's eye for overview and the artist's scrutiny for detail.

May I pass along a detail that might be entertaining to your Norwegian readers? One of my recent novels, SECOND SOUL, was actually based on a ski accident that took place in Norway. A woman skied into a waterfall and her core temp dropped to something like 59 degrees F. over two hours (86 degrees is usually fatal). Apparently the mammalian reflex kicked in. She was choppered to Tromso University Hospital, blood shunted outside her body and warmed, and a few weeks later was back skiing! I transposed the event to an American setting for the novel.

Write on!

Thomas "Sully" Sullivan

Jean said...

Hello Jan--I first learned of Nordic skiing from my late lifelong friend John, a Norwegian of my father's generation, who spoke fondly of his childhood and young manhood in Norway. As a young girl, I was intrigued by the idea of using the sport as a means of everyday transportation. Then I was introduced to Sully whose skiing stories at one point had me looking at skis and snowshoes--this from a person who lives where it's 70 degrees Fahrenheit yearround!--but that's how strong his writing is. I'm so happy that a writer of your caliber has found him and been moved to review his work in such scholarly detail for another audience. I shall look forward to visiting your blog again.

Anonymous said...

To ...Thomas Sullivan... hhhhmmmmm ...hes alway inspired me in the most peculiar ways! Thats the least I can say for Sully and I have only known him a short time. His writing is what really inspires me but his energy is what gets your blood pumping to get out there and LIVE your life to the max! His tales on his ski routes and his trips abroad give fantasy another meaning! To the MAX! I dont know how he does it and if he really has ski nude, but thats the impression I get his life is an open book and he shares his experiences in an abounding way that you think he has skied nude! If one work could pin point one expression to express Sully its not possible; but I would say, "He lives to the Max!" He does not let anything stop him, even when he broke his rotor cuff (I believe that was the area) he still skied and he still wrote! nothing keeps him down and I am sure he will continue to write til the day he is poured out! Go for the Max Sully! Keep up the great writings! Susana

Thomas Sullivan said...

Aaa-chooo! Must be catching cold from skiing nude. Kidding, kidding! LOL. I've run into this before. Even my tight-lipped pharmacist, a brilliant woman and very articulate, once made the same false assumption. "Skinny skiing" is not similar to "skinny dipping" -- an American expression for swimming in the nude. Skinny skiing refers to the skinny skis used in cross-country. I've skied nude from the waist up, but I fully intend to keep my Lycra bottoms on even if the temps go out of sight before the snowpack melts. However, I will bare my soul anytime, anywhere, and I thank Susanna for the kind words that encourage me to do so. Anything less than living to the MAX feels like an affront to creation and a betrayal of myself. "To thine own self be true…” as Shakespeare wrote, which in the long run makes you honest with everyone else.

-- Sully

Jan Fredrik Lockert said...

Thanks Jean. Sully's ideas and principles are universal and his articulation extraordinary. I am sure his ideas have resonance throughout the world.

May I suggest roller skies for you living in such a mild climate.
Jan Fredrik

Jan Fredrik Lockert said...

Thanks Sully. Your book "Second Soul" has already arrived in my mailbox. That book deserves a Norwegian review. Jan Fredrik

Thomas Sullivan said...

A Norwegian review is most welcome, Jan. Souls -- Second or otherwise -- have universal passports!