Introducing Teletoile, a truly musical novel that seamlessly melds narrative, libretto and melody. In 1983 Val Jeanvalle, a Long Island teen, travels to the south of France as an exchange student. He discovers Telephone, the greatest French rock ‘n’ roll group ever, and returns with their albums. The songs continually stir him despite his own inertia and the willful ignorance of his friends (who won't listen to non-English lyrics). Val attempts to create his own music while carving a life-path from Long Island to Manhattan and back through the 1980’s, 1990's and into this millennium. Challenged by his stunted fluency in Language and Life, Val relies on Telephone to search for love and meaning, and to determine the worth of his journey…
NEW! Five tracks from Teletoile have been performed by Z Sheet! Info at http://www.myspace.com/zsheet
SOOTHING ALOE VERA
Set a fantastical generation from now, Soothing Aloe Vera integrates original lyrics for an accompanying multi-genre soundtrack. As the U.S. fractures and reclamation developments surround Manhattan, the summer sun flames over the gated and ungated communities, clubs and parks. Jomo is a giant aspiring hip-hop MC with a catchy demo. His pint-size girlfriend, Melissa, laden with her mother’s legacy, climbs the lucrative ladder of elementary education. Her father, Peter, a dissolute loner, finds his charitable consultancy expiring and his debts skyrocketing. They and their odd cohorts consider memory, tattoos, ritual, acupuncture, the Swiss Army Knife, home ownership and other notable subjects as they romp through a New York City that is bawdy, goofy, alarming, shrill and completely, er, unlike our own.
So, feel the power of the pepper, swelter in Hot Limo, have your cards read on a Stonehenge lawn under the IMAX, wager on dragon sumo, ride the Miysis Mardi Gras float through Central Park, and hurdle the lion at Leontopolis. Bump to the grind, bring your cam, pack your quality—and don’t forget to apply the aloe vera. You deserve it.
“This novel speaks to the inevitable reality of the unchangeable qualities of human nature in the face of every kind of external-world change possible… Elementary teachers make money, rap singers are unnaturally grand in physical stature, and the East River is filled in with condos, but ultimately people love, people lose, people question their situations, challenge their enemies, test their assumptions, underestimate their possibilities, overestimate their potential, address and run from their fears. It is the underlying humanity that brings Soothing Aloe Vera to life for me.”
- Chryseis Corson
