Streets 1970 by Merle Molofsky
$24.95
Click Here to View: Zoom Reading and Discussion by Merle Molofsky of her books Necessary Voices: A Collection of Short Fiction and Streets 1970
Merle Molofsky on Streets 1970:
I wrote the novel in 1970/1971, when I was 28 years old, as my thesis when I was in the MFA in Creative Arts program at Columbia University School of the Arts. Now, 44 years later, dear Arnold Richards,psychiatrist/psychoanalyst and a jolly good fellow, had the wisdom and grace to publish it! Three cheers for Arnie!
Okay, basic concept, “Streets 1970” takes place in NYC in 1970, and in the Garden of Eden, Dateline Eternity.
Main characters are drug addicts; two Zen monks from the 11th century CE who wander around the NYC streets and who occasionally turn up in the Garden of Eden; the incarnation of the Triple Goddess, Maiden, Nymph, and Crone, wandering around NYC as a teenaged prostitute, a Brooklyn housewife and mother, and a homeless bag lady, and who occasionally turn up in the Garden of Eden; and Dionysus and Jesus, who turn up in the Garden of Eden.
Time doesn’t matter. Chronological time exists every now and then.
The main character is Douglas, whom we know as the connection for a group of addicts, and who keeps asking the addicts whether God exists, and won’t shoot up his fix until they answer him. We also see him as a teenager in a residential facility for “troubled youths”, meeting with his counselor, while his alter ego lives in the mountains with a guru, is sent on a quest, and, as he descends the mountain, meets a teenaged girl, Maya, who asks for his protection. Okay, the first taste is free, and, now that I’ve got you hooked, you have to buy the novel…..
Praise for Streets 1970 by Merle Molofsky
Molofsky gives the reader a provocative dose of Americana that is equal parts poetic, visionary, gritty, mythical. Fans of her “Embodied by Word-Music”, “Ladder of Words”, and “Mad Crazy Love” will find the same engaging, amusing, and intellectually challenging style that she consistently delivers.
|– Brent Potter, Ph.D., Author, “Elements of Destruction”.
Merle Molofsky’s Streets 1970 is a must-read for anyone who wants a deeply thought-provoking, well written novel with dialogue and questions that both raises doubts and offers profound answers. Merle is a gifted and highly intelligent storyteller who paints her stories in words so descriptive you feel as if you are looking at pictures, watching a movie or analyzing paintings. The contents and topics are classic with incredible depth. They are as relevant today as they were in the 1970s. Do not miss this one!
–Judith Logue, Ph.D.
