Eric B. Olsen is an independent film analyst and literary critic. His works include The Death of Education, an exposé of the public school system in America, The Films of Jon Garcia: 2009-2013, an analysis of the work of the acclaimed Portland independent filmmaker, and a collection of essays entitled The Intellectual American. His newest book, Ethan Frome: Analysis in Context, is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Mr. Olsen is also the author of six works of fiction in three different genres. He has written a medical thriller entitled Death’s Head, as well as the horror novel Dark Imaginings. He is also the author of three mystery novels, Proximal to Murder and Death in the Dentist’s Chair featuring amateur sleuth Steve Raymond, D.D.S., and The Seattle Changes featuring private detective Ray Neslowe. In addition, he is the author of If I Should Wake Before I Die, a book of short horror fiction. For nearly a hundred years Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome has been considered one of the great works of American literature, a book that almost everyone has heard of, if not required to read in school. Ethan Frome: Analysis in Context is a contextual close reading of Wharton's classic novel, a unique approach that brings together a wealth of historical research and literary criticism to look at the story in an entirely new light. This volume not only analyzes the entirety of the novel in detail but also two other stories by Wharton's contemporaries that will guide educators and general readers alike to a more thorough understanding of a beloved classic in a way they had never imagined. Available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  In just his first five years of filmmaking acclaimed Portland independent director Jon Garcia was able to produce four feature films. Eric B. Olsen examines the first four films of Garcia’s career in order to provide a deeper understanding of works that transcend the limitations of independent filmmaking and to show how they have attained the status of art. Part oral history and part film analysis, the book provides a detailed textual commentary on Tandem Hearts (2010), the director’s first film, The Falls (2011) and The Falls: Testament of Love (2013), his most well known films, and The Hours Till Daylight (2016). The Films of Jon Garcia: 2009-2013 takes an in-depth look at a writer-director who has earned a reputation as one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier filmmakers. Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble The Death of Education The Failure of Our Public Schools to Teach  Contributions by Let's Get To The Nitty Gritty The Autobiography of Horace Silver Discography by Eric B. Olsen This discography presents, to the best of my knowledge, a complete list of all of Horace Silver's commercially available recorded performances, along with the single most familiar format on which the session was available. It includes live sessions that were released by any record company, however small, and studio sessions that were recorded but never released. I had intended on including this discography as part of a book I was writing on the pianist. When Horace called me to ask if he could include it in his book, I was honored to be able to contribute to the autobiography of a jazz legend. Fiction by The Seattle Changes A Ray Neslowe Mystery  The second edition of Death in the Dentist's Chair is being made available as part of the complete series of fictional works by Eric B. Olsen. The new edition includes an introduction by the author, as well as the Dan Lasky short story "Till Death Do Us Part." Crime-solving dentist Steve Raymond is back in a new mystery. When a colleague brings disturbing news of a patient who has died in her chair, she calls on the Seattle dentist for help. Little does Dr. Raymond realize that his offer to treat the surviving family members will draw him into another murder investigation. At the same time Steve is playing music with the best band he's ever been in. Suspects abound and time is running out as death sits in a most unlikely place. Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble Dark Imaginings A Horror Novel  This second edition of Proximal to Murder is being made available as part of the complete series of fictional works by Eric B. Olsen. The new edition includes an introduction by the author, as well as the Steve Raymond short story called "Lying Through Your Teeth" first published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2005. One night, in a local tavern, Seattle dentist Steve Raymond finds himself the only doctor in the house when a local musician collapses onstage and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the musician's death gradually pull the reluctant dentist into conducting his own investiga-tion. Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble Death's Head: A Medical Thriller  If I Should Wake Before I Die collects the complete horror short fiction of author Eric B. Olsen into one volume. Written between 1986 and 1992, these stories reflect the inspiration of major horror writers of the time, like Stephen King and Peter Straub, as well as the EC horror comics of the 1950s. Each of the primary stories is prefaced by a second-person short-short story that sets the scene for the spine tingling tales that follow. In addition to the fifteen stories from the original collection, this edition contains two additional stories as well as his two horror novellas Blood Feast and The Bride of Blood Feast. The horror stories of Eric B. Olsen pull back the curtain of ordinary life and allow the reader to catch a glimpse of a frighteningly alternate reality. |  Ethan Frome: Analysis In Context  Educators' Guide to Teaching Ethan Frome In his first collection of essays, author and educator Eric B. Olsen presents a wide range of analytical thought and cultural criticism. The book opens by examining the history of film in the twentieth century, then analyzes literature from ancient Greek drama to modern American poetry, and briefly comments on jazz and popular music. The final group of essays concerns topics as diverse as climate change, popular culture, religion, anti-intellectualism and politics. Drawing on a broad base of literary and social criticism, from the philosophical thought of Plato and Aristotle to the writings of Lionel Trilling and Richard Hofstadter, The Intellectual American is a work of confident scholarship and signals the emergence of a new voice in American critical thought. Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble The Films of Jon Garcia: 2009-2013  When I went into teaching over fifteen years ago my personal commitment was to do everything in my power to make sure my students had the most rigorous and beneficial educational experience possible. Unfortunately, I succeeded. In creating a new paradigm in the classroom, one that values analytical thought and an emphasis on true learning rather than rote memorization, I came in direct conflict with a public education system that doesn't want teachers to teach and doesn't want students to learn. The failure of education in our country is no secret, but a successful campaign of misdirection waged by educators themselves continues to keep us from understanding why. The Death of Education finally exposes the truth, shining a light inside public school classrooms that have been dark for far too long. Eric B. Olsen  Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble Eric B. Olsen For Ray Neslowe, being a private detective in Seattle isn't the life of excitement people see on TV. He serves legal papers and does background checks, but most of his work comes in the form of spying on cheating spouses. He shoots with a camera, not a gun. Then one night on a stakeout all of that changes when Neslowe suddenly finds himself on the run. Seeking refuge, he accidentally stumbles onto a crime scene and is arrested instead. It will take all of his skills as an investigator to keep from being convicted of murder. This premiere edition of The Seattle Changes also includes an introduction by the author as well as the Ray Neslowe short story "The Olympia Riff." Available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble Death in the Dentist's Chair A Steve Raymond DDS Mystery  Dark Imaginings is the story of Giles Barrett. A horror writer of modest renown, he gets his inspiration from seeing ordinary people in everyday life. But when his dark imagination takes over his characters don’t just die, they must first confront their most terrifying fears. Then one day Giles stumbles upon an obituary in the newspaper with the same name as one of the characters in his stories. What he dismisses as coincidence becomes all too real when it happens again, and the closer Giles comes do discovering the horrifying truth the more his inspiration takes control, threatening to destroy everything he holds dear. Eventually Giles must face his own worst fear if he is to have any hope of silencing the creative demons within. Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble Proximal to Murder A Steve Raymond DDS Mystery  Nazi doctor Konrad Zindell flees to South America at the end of World War Two to continue the experiments he began at Auschwitz working under the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele. Forty-five years later, brilliant neuro-surgeon Paul Raymond is abducted from his Seattle home. The only person who can connect the two is medical student Steve Raymond. Looking for answers to the disappearance of his father, he and his girlfriend Janet Newell suddenly find themselves in a desperate race to save their own lives as they inadvertently uncover one of the Third Reich’s deadliest secrets. This premiere edition of Death's Head also includes an introduction by the author, as well as the short story "Stella." Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble If I Should Wake Before I Die The Complete Horror Short Fiction  |
|
|