Book Review
Symptoms of Terminal Passion
by Chester Aaron
ISBN: 0976298376
Review by Irene Watson
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About the Author:
Chester Aaron was in a WWII heavy-machine-gun platoon
and helped liberate the concentration camp at Dachau. After the war, he
worked as an X-ray technician and later as a lit and writing professor
at St. Mary's College in Moraga. Along the way he became an expert on
garlic (he raises 92 varieties from 30 countries on his Occidental ranch).
He's also published 20 books. The themes of the seven stories in his latest
are familiar: love and loss, old world versus new, war, death, Italian
food. But the tales combine aspects of his interesting life in surprising
ways.
Book Description:
Acclaimed author Chester Aaron’s new book
“Symptoms of Terminal Passion” is an unforgettable collection
that takes readers on a bittersweet journey of hard work on the land from
Tuscany to California, and into the relationships of mature couples, who
are thoughtful, soulful and attuned to the natural world. Aaron writes
passionately about war, marriage, farming, teaching, poverty and love,
in his new offering that intimately celebrates the wisdom of a life well
lived.
Editorial Reviews:
Sylvia Poggioli, NPR
"Chester Aaron takes us on a bittersweet journey with grace and wisdom.
An author of irrepressible tenderness and passion."
Dr. Jeffrey Masson
"I did not want these stories to end. I wish the collection were
a long novel."
Book Review by Irene Watson.
Irene has taught and facilitated healing workshops
and retreats throughout the United States and Canada. She produces workshops,
seminars and retreats for Nekoda Development Institute from her office
in Austin, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Liberal Studies, Summa
Cum Laude, in Psychology from Saint Edward's University in Austin and
her Master of Arts, with honors, in Liberal Studies: Psychology, from
Regis University in Denver. Her emphasis was in spirituality and psychosynthesis.
Symptoms of Terminal Passion
Sadness, anger, joy, happiness, love, lust … “Symptoms of Terminal Passion” has it all. Chester Aaron’s compilation of short stories takes the reader to the depth of the soul of each character – a part of each character that everyone one of us can relate to.
Aaron, a World War II veteran himself, references several of the stories during that era. There is much passion and compassion shown as the characters experience a blurb of their life. “The sergeant lowered his eyes and turned away, knowing that if he did not turn away he would take her into his arms. … He wanted to say, Wait, I’ll get you a blanket, but when he looked back she was gone.”
Other stories are of daily life, simple, yet with much deep meaning – from raising a teenager to naming the hummingbirds that come to the feeder, from reclaiming ancestry to aging. Every story twists and turns within the plot, sometimes with a surprise ending, others with an “aha” and yet others with a “hummm, that’s interesting.”
I found myself, after reading a story, sitting back and contemplating the situation. It’s hard to pin point exactly what it was that struck a chord within me, yet something did. Aaron’s writing is uncomplicated, flows easy, and I found myself wrapped up in the story as though I was right there in each scene.
EzineArticles is the source for this review.
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