Book details

  • Genre:fiction
  • Sub-genre:Magical Realism
  • Language:English
  • Pages:232
  • Paperback ISBN:9798350922547

Skeleton Point

By Maxwell Conroe

Overview


An avid fan of hiking, Maxwell became enchanted with the adventures offered by the Grand Canyon Trail System. During hikes in the Canyon his inner thoughts frequently wander off into existential questions. He discovers, from chats with fellow hikers, that many of them experience similar existential thoughts while hiking. There appears to be a generic pattern to their thoughts. Younger people mostly think about 'Where am I going?', whereas older people tend to take a backward-looking perspective, such as 'What have I achieved in life?'
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Description


The Skeleton Point Cabin Project involved a cabin that would be placed along the South Kaibab Trail, where hikers would be randomly invited to chat about their deeper thoughts, inspired by the transcendental spirit of the Canyon. Many deeper layers of existential questions surface in the course of Maxwell's adventure, which starts after he obtains the permits to place a temporary cabin at Skeleton Point as part of his Artist in Residence Agreement with the Park Service. The interviews conducted in the cabin were to be the basis of this book. The project quickly takes a dramatic turn into the space of philosophical fiction when he is faced with apparitions of Jesus and Mohammed, each claiming to have created the best book with the largest following and widest circulation. Other Gods are marginally involved (Horus, Ra, Vishnu and Ram), and the Devil appears too, in various disguises. Maxwell is scrambling to verify whether his unexpected encounters are real or imagined.
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About The Author


Maxwell Conroe (http://maxwellconroe.com) writes literary fiction focusing on existential questions – in short stories and novels. Maxwell's passion lies in innovative writing about issues that matter. His short story bundles Mind Twisters (2022) and Magic Musings (2023) have been hailed with critical acclaim. Skeleton Point (2023) is Maxwell's debut-novel. His latest book, The Meaning of Being (2023) extends the author's scene of action – while searching for answers to existential questions – from Skeleton Point (in the US Grand Canyon) to the estate of Leo Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana (in Russia's Tula Province). Among his sources of inspiration are Guy de Maupassant, Jorge-Luis Borges, George Orwell, Anatole France, Washington Irving, Anton Chekov, Ivan Turgenev, Sonya Tolstaya, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolay Gogol, Franz Kafka and many others.
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