ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I can find no words sufficient to express my abiding gratitude for the generous support this book has enjoyed since its first chapter appeared more than 20 years ago.
I am indebted to those friends and mentors who kept it alive and “in progress” for such a long time, as well as to those whose generosity and talent helped push it across the finish line.
If you are
among these luminous souls, you know who you are.
To you and to my beloved family, this novel is humbly dedicated.
-ELA
NOT EVEN CLOSE . . .
a commentary by the author
We inhabit a world that grows ever more
"virtual" as the lines between fact and fiction grow ever more faint. Such is the case with MR. NATURAL. Although at times it may seem "real," this is a work of fiction; more accurately, it is a fantasy, and its characters and stories in no wise represent either "real" people or "real" events.
That unequivocal point having been made, one should be aware that writers of fiction are nonetheless “a part of all [we] have
met" Likewise, those whom we meet are "parts" of us. Thus, it is both
natural and logical for our imaginings to resemble “real” people; in fact, it
is inevitable. Otherwise, we would be
left to imagine only “unreal” people, which is definitively impossible. One must not confuse the "believable" with what is perceived to be "real."
If anything, these characters may gently remind
us that we are ALL surreal beings,
trying to make sense of a largely mysterious universe over which we have no
control.