Here is that Christmas gift I’ve wanted you to have ever since I exited the hospital this past August 23. That was the day I was told I’d survived a second attack of West Nile Virus. That’s when I realized I feared what most writers fear at life’s cruel end—with most of your books out of print, you’ll probably go down in literary history as just another anonymous and forgotten scribbler. I didn’t want that sad fate for my books...to go unread.
And so I have PDFs of four out of nine so far uploaded to my site, available to be read at your leisure, free of charge. The other five I hope to post once copyright issues are untangled; at present, hard copies are still available (not free) on Amazon and through other dealers who traffic in used books.
All you have to do is click on the book you want, then enlarge it to a readable page size by clicking on the little square in the lower right corner (these directions are for people like me who aren't particularly intuitive about "teckmology"). Below I include a brief note on the four available that should give you a choice of the free reading fare:
Number 1, Shadow of a Continent, was my first book, published during the USA’s Bicentennial 1976. It’s a history of the imperial struggle between England, France, Spain, and the American colonists for possession of the American West. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award.
Number 2, California Quake, is a history of earthquakes in the Golden State, covering also the cause of earthquakes, and the likelihood of predicting them. Then-Senator Alan Cranston wrote the foreword for the book.
Number 3, My Summer with Molly, The Journal of a Second Generation Father, is the story of me playing ”mom” to my newborn daughter Molly for the first three months of her life. It won the 1990 Benjamin Franklin Award for Autobiography.
Number 4, The Complete Works of Marcus Uteris, an experimental novel, accurately reviewed by one critic as “Samuel Beckett on the loose in Los Angeles.” Read at your own risk. If you read it and never speak to the author again, I will understand. It has happened before.
Season’s Greetings!
Lorenzo and Heidi