» Fringe Blog – Writing on Film, Culture, and Things on the Fringe http://www.fringeblog.com The fringe is where the real resides, where substance and style are made one. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:52:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The Cold Goodbye http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/10/the-cold-goodbye/ http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/10/the-cold-goodbye/#comments Wed, 04 Oct 2006 06:50:31 +0000 jelewis8 http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/10/the-cold-goodbye/ It is done, inasmuch as done means “until the next revision.” There’s always edits that can be made to a text. They’re still working on the Bible, from what I understand. A jot or a tittle may need to be adjusted here and there, but from what I can tell, the text is solid.
It’s got a new look, too, different from the two separate books I put out. It’s got a more 1980′s feel now, as opposed to 1950. The Communist red text offsets well with the cobalt blue of the rest of the cover, giving it a sense of menace, maybe even dread, whilst the imposing buildings rise like sentinels, with the illusion of shaking to subtly hint at things to come. The back is far more abstract, dealing with issues of light and dark in syncopated patterns that more or less represent visually the thematic material present in the book. The dark, monochromatic visual should be iconic without being specific. I think, overall, the cover depicts what I want it to without being overly bold or outlandish, rather presenting the material as understatement, leaving an initial first impression of curiosity. What is this “Cold Goodbye”?
The back text explains the barest hint of a plot, along with a selected/edited quote from the book itself which best wraps up and summarizes the main idea of the story, without giving away too much. This was a simpler task to accomplish than you might imagine. Which may not be a good thing, I don’t know.
I hope the full version will make you as happy as it has made me. It’s 418 pages, 6.00″ x 9.00″, perfect binding, 60# cream interior paper, black and white interior ink , 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior ink. As with my other endorsements of Lulu, the quality is unexpected in its superb presentation and production.
I may do a bit of media blitzing on this thing for a while, though hopefully I can keep most of it off the blog. However, I do encourage you to purchase this or one/both of the other two books (Apophenia and Caliph) which comprise this full version copy, just printed and published as separate volumes. If you would like your copy autographed, contact me before ordering. We’ll arrange for something. I’m not saying I’ll be famous or anything after this, but I have gotten some requests for autographs already, so I figured I’d throw it out in case it was on your mind.
And yes, I will be famous after this, though not necessarily for this. If anything, my fame will involve a Slip ‘N’ Slide, a barrel full of monkeys, and a 30 aught six. But it never hurts to get a piece of the action before it occurs. Ebay is mighty friendly to collectors of John Hancocks.

]]> http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/10/the-cold-goodbye/feed/ 5 Islam, Catholicism, and the Economy http://www.fringeblog.com/2003/12/islam-catholicism-and-the-economy/ http://www.fringeblog.com/2003/12/islam-catholicism-and-the-economy/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2003 17:09:30 +0000 jelewis8 http://www.fringeblog.com/2003/12/islam-catholicism-and-the-economy/ Here’s a pretty fascinating essay on Islam, Catholicism, and economic principles from the standpoint of rule of law. Here’s a snippet, from about halfway through:

Consider that the debate between Protestants and Catholics has always at bottom been about authority: does it lie ultimately in the Church or in the Bible? At first glance it might seem that the Protestant answer is a distinctly Hayekian one: the Bible, rather than the Church or the Pope, ought to be the believer’s guide in all things, and as such the believer might seem to be liberated from the arbitrary will of those holding ecclesiastical power.
But appearances are deceiving. For the Bible does not, of course, in any literal sense interpret itself. And yet each believer, being his own “priest,” is supposed to have direct access to the meaning of the text, without the need for guidance by an authoritative Church.
So what are believers to do when they are not sure what the Bible means, or when they disagree as to its meaning? The standard Protestant answer is that the Holy Spirit will lead the believer into understanding. But what criteria are there for determining exactly what the Spirit is saying, or whether He is really speaking to one at all? Here the believer must inevitably fall back on his own private judgment. The result, notoriously, has been the splintering of Protestantism into thousands of denominations. The Bible ends up saying whatever the individual believer thinks it says — however ill-educated or bigoted that believer might be, and whatever extra-Biblical agenda he may unconsciously be reading into it. Every man becomes, in practice, his own authority — which means, in effect, that there is no authority at all.
There is, that is to say, no rule of law in the religious sphere, but rather sheer lawlessness: the majestic and objective will of God as enshrined in the Bible is imperceptibly transformed into the puny, subjective will of the believer who interprets it.

That’s pretty insightful. Read the whole thing.

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