Bøker av William Karl Thomas

David Wales' life as a cocktail pianist in New Orleans' French Quarter during the mid 1950's is complicated by two beautiful young women; Julienne deVille, a wealthy Creole owner of an art gallery, and Aurora Alonzo, a fiery Mexican folk guitarist who experienced a horrendous childhood. Two beautiful older women attempt to control these three for their own secret reasons; his boss, Valentina Sciciliana, and Justine Moreau, a Parisian immigrant who lives in a menage a trois with two young men. Two gay entertainers, a Russian puppeteer named Dimitri Lebedov and a bi-racial choreographer named Alex Pienas, recruit David to write the score for a musical they hope to take to Broadway, the premise of which is that God is a woman and is unhappy with human behavior. God sends an angel named Gabriel, who plays a cornet and looks and sounds like Louis Armstrong, to recruit a pianist in a gay bar to write songs that voice her complaint in order to save the world. Add to this a beautiful female impersonator as one of the musical's stars, a slender young Korean female hired as the musical's publicist, and the world famous nightclubs and restaurants of New Orleans as a backdrop to showbiz intrigue and romantic adventures that border on pornography, but are so beautifully written that menage a trois and gay sex seem only natural and thoroughly fulfilling.William Karl Thomas was Lenny Bruce's only writing collaborator, so it's no surprise that Thomas' work walks on the wild side. His past includes being a cocktail pianist in 'the big easy' circa 1950's, and his past works are said to "read like a Bogart script." All his works include gays and interracial characters. The body of Thomas' work, both fiction and non-fiction, hits the high points of America's 20th century social evolution, and this novel, more than most, intimately explores the gray areas between the gay and heterosexual worldsAll Thomas' books are available in print and digital E-editions. Educators and libraries should note that the main body of Thomas' work covers the high points of America's 20th century social evolution with historical accuracy and couched in a dramatic literary style more palatable and entertaining than conventional history books. Subjects covered by his books include The Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Civil Rights Era, the First Amendment crusades of the 1960's, disability issues in America, New Orleans & Gulf Coast history, Italian communities in early Chicago history, Afro-American film star history, mid century Hollywood film-TV-nightclub history, Southern culture, and the American psyche during the 20th century. His first book is a memoir of his ten year collaboration with the most controversial comedian of the twentieth century titled "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet," and was published in its first edition by Archon, its second edition by Media Maestro, and its Japanese edition by DHC Corporation of Tokyo. His second book is a memoir of his childhood in a Gulf Coast town in which Tennessee Williams lived and wrote about, and was where Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, and is titled "The Genteel Poor." His third book is a novel based on his wartime experiences in Korea titled "The Josan And The Jee." His fourth book is a novel, "Cleo," based on his media experiences in Los Angeles during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. His fifth book is an anthology of 12 short stories, "Hollywood Tales From The Outer Fringe." His sixth book is a biography of a charismatic woman and her inspiring life as a polio survivor titled "A Place For Us." His seventh book, "The Candy Butcher," is a biography of screenwriter/film producer Frank Ray Perilli, who created films such as "The Doberman Gang," "Harlow," and more than a dozen other cult films." Details and excerpts of all his books are available on the publisher's website at http: //www.mediamaestro.net

This novel is based on the real life stories of three women who survived massacres, rape, and starvation during The Korean War, and their intimate relationship with a low ranking American Airman who is battling his own demons, from his failing marriage to his unfaithful stateside wife to his contentious relationship with his bigoted military boss. The author's year of duty in Korea's combat zone during the early 1950's is reflected in the detailed picture he paints of civilians struggling to survive the total loss of infrastructure and the special hazards three starving women face. The book title can be translated as "The Girl (Josan) and the Rat (Jee)," which refers to a giant rat that haunts the women's home in a war torn suburb of Seoul, and which is a metaphor for all the dangers that beset them. This is a gritty tale, far too realistic to be called a romance novel, but one in which love is a key to survival. It is not surprising that Thomas' books tend to walk on the wild side, inasmuch as he was Lenny Bruce's only collaborator, co authoring the comedy material on Bruce's first three comedy albums and three screenplays, plus photographing his album covers, filming the pilot for the first feature, and booking him into critical career changing venues. Critics have described Thomas' memoir, "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet," in terms such as, "He superbly evokes the atmosphere of the cheap Hollywood nightclubs and coffeehouses," and "His work sometimes reads like a Bogart script." Thomas' multi faceted career as a screenwriter, book author, photographer, cinematographer, filmmaker, and public relations executive spanned the latter half of the twentieth century, working for and with 'A' list celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Shecky Greene, Lenny Bruce, and others. Some of his later fiction parallels those careers such as his novel "Cleo" and an anthology of twelve short stories titled "Hollywood Tales From The Outer Fringe." He grew up in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas, eventually marrying and divorcing his highschool teacher, as told in his memoir "The Genteel Poor." He worked as a cocktail pianist in New Orleans' French Quarter, which provided the background for his novel "Piano Man" His latest work, "A Place For Us," is a biography of Wendy Wolf, a childhood polio survivor who became a charismatic advocate for people with disabilities. All of Thomas' work is available on Amazon in both print and e book editions. "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet" is also available in a Japanese edition from DHC of Tokyo. Thomas will soon be releasing a science fiction trilogy and an anthology of short stories laid in New Orleans. He resides in Tucson, Arizona, where he occasionally teaches writing and film production in between working on a variety of literary and film projects. More information about the author and his work can be found at www.mediamaestro.net/books.htm