Projects & Publishing

Eric has published work on a variety of topics in print and online. Here are some samples:

“Revolving Like Ixion” at The Write Launch

…And that is the question that a reader walks away with as the Pequod sinks to the bottom of the sea. Is this the work of a divine hand? Has this all been a testament to the incorrigible and insurmountable “way that things are”? If you challenge the natural order are you doomed, utterly, to stand witness to the awful power of your enemy?

If there is an elegance to this question, it is a brutal elegance. If there is a simplicity to Moby Dick, it is a wayward simplicity that rounds the corner of the concept to peek its head into the narrowing straits of an anti-philosophy.

“Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, and Reverse Modernism” at PopMatters

Modernism and the Golden Era of detective fiction occupy overlapping periods of history. These early 20th century movements in literature each responded to rapid changes taking place in society: technological and industrial advance, wars of an epic and unprecedented scale, and pervasive intellectual upheaval…

“Viva Zapata!—Steinbeck, Motion Pictures, and the Mexican Revolution” at SteinbeckNow

Unlike other famous authors of his generation such as Faulkner, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway, John Steinbeck experienced more success than failure in motion picture adaptations of his fiction while he was alive. Uniquely among American writers who worked in Hollywood during the first half of the 20th century, he also found creating original scripts for motion pictures a productive vehicle for his social message and artistic vision, as well as a useful outlet for personal issues when needed. The 1952 film Viva Zapata! starring Marlon Brando as the hero of the recent Mexican Revolution exemplifies these aspects of Steinbeck’s career as a writer….

“I’ve Got No Strings: Pinnochio & Ideology” at Medium

Pinocchio famously sang that he had no strings. What he did not realize was that, even as a real boy, he was still, in a way, a puppet — open to the persuasions of people like the con man Honest John. We’ve all got strings. We can all be influenced and persuaded and, here’s the rub, we don’t always know when it’s happening…

Places & Spaces where my work has appeared. [A hearty thank you to all involved.]