"IS"

by Harley Sachs

Overview

What is real depends on what the meaning of “is” is. If Coca-Cola is the “real thing” is Pepsi unreal? If meat is “real food for real people” are Twinkies not real? Is Sherlock Holmes real, and if not, why do people send him letters even today? In these conversations, the befuddled author, haunted by the characters he created, confronts the problem of what is real and what is imaginary. In conversations alternating between his psychiatrist and his wife, he probes the murkiness of reality and comes to an ambiguous conclusion.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940011881374
Publisher:	IDEVCO Idea Development Company
Publication date:	06/19/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	92
File size:	63 KB

About the Author

Though born in Chicago and raised in Indiana, Harley L. Sachs considers himself an international, having lived in Germany, Sweden, Scotland, and Denmark. He earned a degree in English at Indiana University, then served in the US Army in Germany. After getting his Master's degree at I.U. he returned to Europe and worked under cover for several years. He met and married Ulla in Stockholm, Sweden and they spent a year's honeymoon in a Scottish castle. Returning to the USA, Sachs taught English briefly at Southern Illinois University then moved to Michigan Technological University in the Upper Peninsula where he and his wife raised three daughters. He took early retirement and now divides the year between Michigan and Portland, Oregon.

Harley L. Sachs is the author of many novels, short stories, magazine articles and newspaper columns. His short stories have been broadcast on the BBC World Service short wave and on Oregon Public Radio’s Golden Hours . His awards for writing are too numerous to list as are his about 100 publications.

Editorial Reviews

Every once in a while a work of art comes along that forces one to question the very nature of reality... One early reviewer, Diana Hamilton of Wings ePress commented, "I find it a wonderful essay on the general condition of people. Conclusions are meant to be truths that the reader can take with him/her."...Sachs points out that "Wonderland is imaginary, but we can talk about it--so doesn't that make it real?"...It is hard to forget "IS."

Matt Norman

“What a novel concept [and pun intended!]--explore an author's mind to
see what is "real" just because the author has imagined it.

“I read IS and I find it a wonderful essay on the general condition of
people. "The point is is that this confusion between what's real and
what is illusion is ancient." ... What a concept. You
have successfully written something equal to Jonathan Swift's MODEST
PROPOSAL.

Wings ePress - Diane Hamilton