About the Book:
Song of the Oceanides is a quirky but poignant coming-of-age
tale about children, Martians, freaky Martian hummingbird moths, and alluring
sea nymphs.
The first thread relates the suspenseful
tale of a Martian girl, Emmylou, stranded in Maine where she is relentlessly
pursued by the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s Extraterrestrial-Enigma Service. The second thread concerns her favorite
Earthling comic-book artist, Giacomo Venable, and all his misadventures and
failed romances. The final thread deals
with a tragic young lad, Rory Slocum, who, like Emmylou, loves Giacomo’s comic
books and sees them as a refuge from the sea nymphs or Oceanides incessantly
taunting and tormenting him.
As much as anything, the triple narrative
serves to show how art may bring together disparate pariahs and misfits—and
give them a fulcrum for friendship and sense of communal belonging in a cruel
world.
Song of the Oceanides is free for all those who subscribe to
Kindle Select, and it is only 99 cents for everyone else.
Author Bio:
J.G. Źymbalist began writing Song of the Oceanides as a
child when his family summered in Castine, Maine where they rented out Robert
Lowell’s house. There, inspired by his
own experiences with school bullying, the budding author began to conceive the
tale.
The author returned to the piece while
working for the Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society, May-September, 2005. He completed the full draft in Ellsworth,
Maine later that year.
