The Osiris Connection

by Steve Douglass, Peter Jennings

Overview

Given his subsequent superstardom, culminating in no less than an Academy Award, it may be easy to overlook exactly how demonized {|Eminem|} was once his mainstream debut album, {|The Slim Shady LP|}, grabbed the attention of {|pop|} music upon its release in 1999. Then, it wasn't clear to every listener that {|Eminem|} was, as they say, an unreliable narrator, somebody who slung satire, lies, uncomfortable truths, and lacerating insights with vigor and venom, blurring the line between reality and parody, all seemingly without effort. {|The Slim Shady LP|} bristles with this tension, since it's never always clear when {|Marshall Mathers|} is joking and when he's dead serious. This was unsettling in 1999, when nobody knew his back-story, and years later, when his personal turmoil is public knowledge, it still can be unsettling, because his words and delivery are that powerful. Of course, nowhere is this more true than on {|"97 Bonnie and Clyde,"|} a notorious track where he imagines killing his wife and then disposing of the body with his baby daughter in tow. There have been more violent songs in {|rap|}, but few more disturbing, and it's not because of what it describes, it's how he describes it -- how the perfectly modulated phrasing enhances the horror and black humor of his words. {|Eminem|}'s supreme gifts are an expansive vocabulary and vivid imagination, which he unleashes with wicked humor and unsparing anger in equal measure. The production -- masterminded by {|Dr. Dre|} but also helmed in large doses by {|Marky|} and {|Jeff Bass|}, along with {|Marshall|} himself -- mirrors his rhymes, with their spare, intricately layered arrangements enhancing his narratives, which are always at the forefront. As well they should be -- there are few rappers as wildly gifted verbally as {|Eminem|}. At a time when many rappers were stuck in the stultifying swamp of {|gangsta|} cliches, {|Eminem|} broke through the {|hardcore|} murk by abandoning the genre's familiar themes and flaunting a style with more verbal muscle and imagination than any of his contemporaries. Years later, as the shock has faded, it's those lyrical skills and the subtle mastery of the music that still resonate, and they're what make {|The Slim Shady LP|} one of the great debuts in both {|hip-hop|} and modern {|pop|} music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492870623
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	10/29/2013
Pages:	742
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.48(d)

About the Author

Peter Jennings is a professional writer with more than 40 years experience. Along with "The Osiris Connection" written with Steve Douglass, Peter has recently completed "The Power of Happiness: How To Get Happy In Unhappy Times" (www.thepowerofhappinessbook.com), "The Shark Assault: A Story of Survival" written with Nicole Moore (www.thesharkassault.com) and "Making It With Marilyn" written with Marilyn Brooks (www.makingitwithmarilyn.com). He is currently working on the first in a series of fiction books featuring Dr. Tasha Harcourt, "A Taste For Death" (www.drtmysteries.com).

Having learned about Steve Douglass's amazing exploits in the gasoline business, Jennings encouraged Douglass to draft his career events into a story hidden behind a veil of semi-fiction (to avoid potential legal challenges - even to stay alive). Using his as a foundation, Jennings then wrote the final manuscript for "The Osiris Connection".

The less public Peter Jennings is found at "Hemlock Hollow", a sprawling lakeside log home he shares with his wife Louise and their faithful rescue dogs Molly and Macy. His pursuits include jazz, singing (see www.pjentertainer.com), golf, spirited conversations with close friends, and gentle lake cruises in the family's 1909 mahogany boat "Ruth".

* * *

Steve Douglass was born and educated in Canada. Subsequent to university graduation, he spent the first part of his career in the oil industry, beginning with Exxon, then Royal Dutch Shell, the largest and second largest companies in the business. Many of his roles pivoted around marketing which fuelled his interest in writing.

The second half of his career was devoted to building one of the smallest companies in the industry: his own. Along the way, Douglass experienced incredibly dark escapades after meeting the larcenous character who is re-molded as "Jim Siriso" in "The Osiris Connection".

The Douglass/Jennings friendship has survived their collaboration on "The Osiris Connection" and both authors look forward to a successful publishing event and motion picture adaptation of their work.