Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Book Review: Where North Meets South and East Meets West
Where North Meets South and East Meets West (Publish America/ 2009) By Timothy Louis Baker: A Critical Essay
By Kushal Poddar
What do we perceive as belief?
An insight on the riddle we have been solving through our life and end in the realization, we are the threads and clues to the riddle. It is not upon us to solve it.
We grow up thriving on adventures, in stories, in reality. Seldom have we perceived adventures as the voyage towards the supreme truth which they are. The voyage we must go through before we find our own belief can be a book; the pages of such a book are often torn as we tend to forget our day to day details.
Not in all the cases.
Timothy Louis Baker is a journey man. An ‘adventurous spirit from early age’. Seldom you will confront so many adventures in one life time and realize the cosmic connection in all of those ups and downs. Even the mountains, the flats and plains, the woods and the lakes, the tractors and cars, the crashes and marijuana, the gunpoint held ups and so forth are all connected. At least I thought so while reading the serious autobiography of a mysterious traveler, Timothy Lois Baker. Serious it is. The poof of its seriousness lies in the use of statistics by the autobiographer. He remembers every numbers in his life. Almost all.
His early delinquency or his being so called (ha!) a criminal and an inmate in both a prison and a mental asylum is nothing in comparison to the magic in his life; the magic often tends to be dark yet enthralling. I insist, there is no false pretense of ‘destiny’ in this fine writing. It is almost a careless conversation around a fire and under one of the great sky he has described.
Until we reach his age of sixteen we are innocent and in touch with the immortalities. Here timelessness revolves around the mountains, flats, seas and seasons. As a traveler through out his life Timothy has seen all the directions meet. North, South, East, West. Into him. In the last sentence of this book we read “That was the story of the incredible life of Timothy Louis Baker where North meets South and East meets West.”
The autobiographer has been candid about his vices and benign about his virtues. The writing is a ‘time-wrap’. When I put it down the world was as it had been.
I do not say this book does not need another editing but then we would have lost the unique accent of the writing, the profound characteristics of the life of Timothy.
We do not survive without miracles. Minor miracles. But we do not realize them to be so. Timothy did. His life is full of miracles and debacles of dark magical forces. “Warlock” as he have mentioned.
Another important aspect of this book is the time travel through entire America. We have been made to remember many a little things. Timothy is certainly the poet of unsung little things.
While reading the chapter IX of the book a reader will find how incredible this life is indeed. Without imposing anything Timothy leads us to believe; this book contains his sacred librettos, incantations.
Believe me, I am already back to read the chapter I again…how our journey has began. May be the key lies there…
By Kushal Poddar
What do we perceive as belief?
An insight on the riddle we have been solving through our life and end in the realization, we are the threads and clues to the riddle. It is not upon us to solve it.
We grow up thriving on adventures, in stories, in reality. Seldom have we perceived adventures as the voyage towards the supreme truth which they are. The voyage we must go through before we find our own belief can be a book; the pages of such a book are often torn as we tend to forget our day to day details.
Not in all the cases.
Timothy Louis Baker is a journey man. An ‘adventurous spirit from early age’. Seldom you will confront so many adventures in one life time and realize the cosmic connection in all of those ups and downs. Even the mountains, the flats and plains, the woods and the lakes, the tractors and cars, the crashes and marijuana, the gunpoint held ups and so forth are all connected. At least I thought so while reading the serious autobiography of a mysterious traveler, Timothy Lois Baker. Serious it is. The poof of its seriousness lies in the use of statistics by the autobiographer. He remembers every numbers in his life. Almost all.
His early delinquency or his being so called (ha!) a criminal and an inmate in both a prison and a mental asylum is nothing in comparison to the magic in his life; the magic often tends to be dark yet enthralling. I insist, there is no false pretense of ‘destiny’ in this fine writing. It is almost a careless conversation around a fire and under one of the great sky he has described.
Until we reach his age of sixteen we are innocent and in touch with the immortalities. Here timelessness revolves around the mountains, flats, seas and seasons. As a traveler through out his life Timothy has seen all the directions meet. North, South, East, West. Into him. In the last sentence of this book we read “That was the story of the incredible life of Timothy Louis Baker where North meets South and East meets West.”
The autobiographer has been candid about his vices and benign about his virtues. The writing is a ‘time-wrap’. When I put it down the world was as it had been.
I do not say this book does not need another editing but then we would have lost the unique accent of the writing, the profound characteristics of the life of Timothy.
We do not survive without miracles. Minor miracles. But we do not realize them to be so. Timothy did. His life is full of miracles and debacles of dark magical forces. “Warlock” as he have mentioned.
Another important aspect of this book is the time travel through entire America. We have been made to remember many a little things. Timothy is certainly the poet of unsung little things.
While reading the chapter IX of the book a reader will find how incredible this life is indeed. Without imposing anything Timothy leads us to believe; this book contains his sacred librettos, incantations.
Believe me, I am already back to read the chapter I again…how our journey has began. May be the key lies there…
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Fantastic Florida Fun
Teenage Mark Mitchell was living in North Vernon, Indiana where he had a violent altercation with his stepfather and had to leave. Traveling to Florida in his car he picks up teenage hitchhiker Melissa Monroe. Getting along well together they travel to Brandon, Florida under the assumption that Mark would live with her and her father Al and possibly work in Al’s orange groves. All the while throughout the story Mark and Melissa are boyfriend and girlfriend.
Al allows Mark to live there at their home with them without Mark having to work in the orange groves but instead for participation in the criminal activity that Al has under the shelter of the legal businesses of the orange groves.
Mark and Melissa became involved as a team in drug trafficking. Then Mark became ever increasingly involved in crime under her father Al the kingpin. Melissa warns Mark that her father is very heavily involved in crime advising him to walk away and leave it behind if he had any compunctions about the entire operation. However Mark indicates that he would never turn anybody over to the law for anything and the criminal operations proceed.
Mark discovers that Melissa is right just as she had predicted Mark would be surprised how extremely heavily connected Al is in the crime world yet still that does not dissuade Mark from participation.
Mark became involved in participating in drug and money transfers with Al at the orange groves and also at a delivery/pickup spot at a residence in Tampa. He learns of Al’s criminal involvement of many things including not only murder but actually witnesses Al murder a boy in cold blood in one of the orange groves during a visit to all of those orange groves that Al owned, with those visits intended for Al to show Mark how to conduct business operations there.
Finally Mark increasingly discovers evidence of an incestuous father/daughter relationship. Questioning Melissa however reveals nothing because Al has been inducing hypnosis to seduce her, so she remembers virtually nothing about it all.
Al allows Mark to live there at their home with them without Mark having to work in the orange groves but instead for participation in the criminal activity that Al has under the shelter of the legal businesses of the orange groves.
Mark and Melissa became involved as a team in drug trafficking. Then Mark became ever increasingly involved in crime under her father Al the kingpin. Melissa warns Mark that her father is very heavily involved in crime advising him to walk away and leave it behind if he had any compunctions about the entire operation. However Mark indicates that he would never turn anybody over to the law for anything and the criminal operations proceed.
Mark discovers that Melissa is right just as she had predicted Mark would be surprised how extremely heavily connected Al is in the crime world yet still that does not dissuade Mark from participation.
Mark became involved in participating in drug and money transfers with Al at the orange groves and also at a delivery/pickup spot at a residence in Tampa. He learns of Al’s criminal involvement of many things including not only murder but actually witnesses Al murder a boy in cold blood in one of the orange groves during a visit to all of those orange groves that Al owned, with those visits intended for Al to show Mark how to conduct business operations there.
Finally Mark increasingly discovers evidence of an incestuous father/daughter relationship. Questioning Melissa however reveals nothing because Al has been inducing hypnosis to seduce her, so she remembers virtually nothing about it all.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Review by Randall Radic on Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street
Reviewed by Randall Radic
Not too long ago, Cormac McCarthy wrote The Road. It was a great book and McCarthy is a genius. In 2006, Vintage Books – which is a part of the Random House empire – published McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited. The publisher described The Sunset Limited as “a novel in dramatic form.” Translation: it was written in dialogue as if for the theater. Whatever one cared to call it, the technique was effective. Especially in the hands of someone as gifted as Cormac McCarthy.
Timothy Louis Baker did just the opposite in his new novel. It’s called Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street. And to all intents and purposes Baker has – in effect – taken a dramatic screenplay and turned it into a novel. And like McCarthy, Baker is neat-handed as he weaves a story of domestic terrorists plotting to take over the government.
The terrorists finance their conspiracy by means of a continual criminal enterprise – the manufacture, distribution and sale of illegal substances. Drugs. To reveal much more of the story would spoil it. So what happens and how it all turns out won’t be mentioned. However, the plot is tightly wrapped and rockets along to an explosive ending.
If you want something to compare it to, think Reservoir Dogs, the bloody, intricate and action-packed movie made by Tarantino some years ago. Which means that Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street would make a hecka-good movie. In fact, the reviewer suggests Jean Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert and Rutger Hauer would be perfect as the principal bad guys. Ridley Scott or Tarantino or Rodriguez could direct, adding their personal chromatic touches to an already dark story. The interplay between directorial coloration and thematic blackness would produce a subtle turbulence.
Baker’s growth as a writer is evident in Crime and Drugs. He’s gone from the charm of miscellaneous stream-of-consciousness to the sharper images of a more traditional style of writing. And his ear for dialogue is skillfully displayed in this latest effort. Which means it’s an easy book to read, because it resonates with action and a linguistic sartorial flair. Which means it’s all dressed up and it has someplace to go.
On the Read-O-Meter, which ranges from one star (pitiful) to five stars (startling), Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street comes in at 5 stars.
Not too long ago, Cormac McCarthy wrote The Road. It was a great book and McCarthy is a genius. In 2006, Vintage Books – which is a part of the Random House empire – published McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited. The publisher described The Sunset Limited as “a novel in dramatic form.” Translation: it was written in dialogue as if for the theater. Whatever one cared to call it, the technique was effective. Especially in the hands of someone as gifted as Cormac McCarthy.
Timothy Louis Baker did just the opposite in his new novel. It’s called Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street. And to all intents and purposes Baker has – in effect – taken a dramatic screenplay and turned it into a novel. And like McCarthy, Baker is neat-handed as he weaves a story of domestic terrorists plotting to take over the government.
The terrorists finance their conspiracy by means of a continual criminal enterprise – the manufacture, distribution and sale of illegal substances. Drugs. To reveal much more of the story would spoil it. So what happens and how it all turns out won’t be mentioned. However, the plot is tightly wrapped and rockets along to an explosive ending.
If you want something to compare it to, think Reservoir Dogs, the bloody, intricate and action-packed movie made by Tarantino some years ago. Which means that Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street would make a hecka-good movie. In fact, the reviewer suggests Jean Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert and Rutger Hauer would be perfect as the principal bad guys. Ridley Scott or Tarantino or Rodriguez could direct, adding their personal chromatic touches to an already dark story. The interplay between directorial coloration and thematic blackness would produce a subtle turbulence.
Baker’s growth as a writer is evident in Crime and Drugs. He’s gone from the charm of miscellaneous stream-of-consciousness to the sharper images of a more traditional style of writing. And his ear for dialogue is skillfully displayed in this latest effort. Which means it’s an easy book to read, because it resonates with action and a linguistic sartorial flair. Which means it’s all dressed up and it has someplace to go.
On the Read-O-Meter, which ranges from one star (pitiful) to five stars (startling), Crime and Drugs on Trip City Street comes in at 5 stars.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Where North Meets South and East Meets West - Review by Randall Radic Basil and Spice
Friday
11Dec2009
Book Review: Where North Meets South and East Meets West By Timothy Louis Baker
Dec 11, 2009
By Randall Radic
Sufi adepts supposedly project their souls out of their bodies. Other people claim to have died, gone to Heaven and then returned to the land of the living here on earth. Such stories arouse mysterious and intimate emotions, which dilate blood vessels, causing chills to slide along the subcutaneous nerves of readers. Qualms of apprehension and excitement bubble to the surface. Only the dull, the insensitive, are immune.
Whether or not such stories are true is the subject of learned debate. Neurologists describe such events as anticipatory delusions, the result of misfiring brain synapses. The psychologists differ; such experiences, they explain, are the personification of ardent religious desires boiling up from the subconscious. Preachers refer to the soul. Paranormalists observe that ghosts and haunted houses exist. Which may or may not be their way of saying – with a heavy dose of sarcasm – “Big deal.”
Near the end of his remarkable book, Timothy Baker writes: “Or how would it sound to somebody else if you just began to testify that you had the answer to all religions that comes from an experience in the afterlife you had? Like as not you’d end up locked up.”
Tim Baker did both. He had a “flesh on flesh experience with Heaven.” And he got locked up. In other words, Tim Baker has lived a life beyond belief. A life of drugs, cars, jail, bumming around, prison, and persecution. And like the Apostle Paul, Tim Baker has gone to Heaven and come back to relate the occurrence.
The book is called Where North Meets South and East Meets West (NSEW). It’s half memoir, half travelogue, half biography, and half spiritual manifesto. You respond by saying that’s two halves too many. You are correct. NSEW is more in two distinct ways. For one, it is very subtle. For two, it is different (in a good sort of way).
Baker’s writing style has to be experienced to be believed. It’s so totally sundry and miscellaneous. As if listening to the stream-of-consciousness outpourings of a precocious adolescent who can’t be bothered with normal thought processes, because they constrict his manner of expressing himself. Frankly, it takes a little adjusting to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s simply marvelous. In fact, it’s charming.
A brief summary of the book would go something like this:
NSEW is the full and accurate report of the nimble proceedings in the highly extraordinary and highly interesting life of Timothy Louis Baker, who was a criminal, a tweaker and an inmate in both a prison and a mental asylum. The story comes complete with opinions on pretty much everything under the sun, including love, life and happiness. Along with extra-sensory perceptions and spiritual visions. Also included are character sketches of a “black magic warlock” and other assorted evildoers. Along with a detailed history of the author’s vocation as a Prophet, together with many other delicious tidbits of informative information, which have never before been revealed to anyone, man or woman or angel or beast.
It’s quite a book.
Where North Meets South and East Meets West (Publish America/ 2009) By Timothy Louis Baker
11Dec2009
Book Review: Where North Meets South and East Meets West By Timothy Louis Baker
Dec 11, 2009
By Randall Radic
Sufi adepts supposedly project their souls out of their bodies. Other people claim to have died, gone to Heaven and then returned to the land of the living here on earth. Such stories arouse mysterious and intimate emotions, which dilate blood vessels, causing chills to slide along the subcutaneous nerves of readers. Qualms of apprehension and excitement bubble to the surface. Only the dull, the insensitive, are immune.
Whether or not such stories are true is the subject of learned debate. Neurologists describe such events as anticipatory delusions, the result of misfiring brain synapses. The psychologists differ; such experiences, they explain, are the personification of ardent religious desires boiling up from the subconscious. Preachers refer to the soul. Paranormalists observe that ghosts and haunted houses exist. Which may or may not be their way of saying – with a heavy dose of sarcasm – “Big deal.”
Near the end of his remarkable book, Timothy Baker writes: “Or how would it sound to somebody else if you just began to testify that you had the answer to all religions that comes from an experience in the afterlife you had? Like as not you’d end up locked up.”
Tim Baker did both. He had a “flesh on flesh experience with Heaven.” And he got locked up. In other words, Tim Baker has lived a life beyond belief. A life of drugs, cars, jail, bumming around, prison, and persecution. And like the Apostle Paul, Tim Baker has gone to Heaven and come back to relate the occurrence.
The book is called Where North Meets South and East Meets West (NSEW). It’s half memoir, half travelogue, half biography, and half spiritual manifesto. You respond by saying that’s two halves too many. You are correct. NSEW is more in two distinct ways. For one, it is very subtle. For two, it is different (in a good sort of way).
Baker’s writing style has to be experienced to be believed. It’s so totally sundry and miscellaneous. As if listening to the stream-of-consciousness outpourings of a precocious adolescent who can’t be bothered with normal thought processes, because they constrict his manner of expressing himself. Frankly, it takes a little adjusting to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s simply marvelous. In fact, it’s charming.
A brief summary of the book would go something like this:
NSEW is the full and accurate report of the nimble proceedings in the highly extraordinary and highly interesting life of Timothy Louis Baker, who was a criminal, a tweaker and an inmate in both a prison and a mental asylum. The story comes complete with opinions on pretty much everything under the sun, including love, life and happiness. Along with extra-sensory perceptions and spiritual visions. Also included are character sketches of a “black magic warlock” and other assorted evildoers. Along with a detailed history of the author’s vocation as a Prophet, together with many other delicious tidbits of informative information, which have never before been revealed to anyone, man or woman or angel or beast.
It’s quite a book.
Where North Meets South and East Meets West (Publish America/ 2009) By Timothy Louis Baker
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