New Book by Joram Piatigorsky: Truth and Fantasy


Posted August 17, 2021 by adelaidebooks

ADELAIDE BOOKS is proud to present the latest work by Joram Piatigorsky: Truth and Fantasy

 
"Creativity is an endless parade of possibilities, it's not a goal, Joram Piatigorsky reflects in this diverse collection of essays. Whether writing about the brain, tennis, a bookstore in Iceland, old friends, marriage, death, snow, movies, or the notion of creativity itself, he joins the parade with enthusiasm and unbounded curiosity."-Bill O'Sullivan, senior managing editor, Washingtonian magazine
"Truth and Fantasy hits the mark on so many levels -- whether conveying the wisdom of bees or the meaning of fatherhood or the immense power of silence. With a disarming curiosity and warmth, Piatigorsky's observations always emerge plainly, sometimes starkly, in the distance, leaving the reader with a precise and surprising understanding of what is being seen - and even what is not seen. -James Mathews, author of Last Known Position
"In Truth and Fantasy: Essays, Joram Piatigorsky provides widespread insights on numerous topics, always with a nod to imagination...These well-written, concise essays weave together his thoughts on complementary themes from his extraordinary creative life." -Stephen S. Lash, Chairman Emeritus: Christie's
"...Piatigorsky is never dogmatic, but rather provides the reader with a passport to consideration of a topic from that individual's personal context. These analyses of life's landscape stay with you long after you put the book down." -Margaret McFall-Ngai, Professor and Director, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, member National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.
"Through concurrent lifetimes dedicated to athletics, research, collecting Inuit and African art, travel and writing, the scientist facilitates our investigation of a life lived large. Then the writer takes over, proposing ways we can weave the truths we have discovered into the fabrics of our own lives." -John Houston, Inuit art dealer and filmmaker, producer of Atautsikut / Leaving None Behind
During his 50-year research career at the National Institutes of Health, Joram Piatigorsky has published some 300 scientific articles and a book, Gene Sharing and Evolution (Harvard University Press, 2007), lectured worldwide, received numerous research awards, including the prestigious Helen Keller Prize for vision research, served on scientific editorial boards, advisory boards and funding panels, and trained a generation of scientists. Presently an emeritus scientist and writer, he collects Inuit art, is Vice-Chairperson on the Board of Directors of The Writer's Center in Bethesda. He blogs at his website (Joramp.com), has published personal essays in Lived Experience and Adelaide Literary Magazine, a novel, Jellyfish Have Eyes (IPBooks, 2014; Adelaide Books, 2020). He has published the following books with the present publisher, Adelaide Books: a memoir, The Speed of Dark (2018), two collections of short stories, The Open Door and Other Tales of Love and Yearning (2019) and Notes Going Underground (2020). He has two sons, five grandchildren, and lives with his wife in Bethesda, Maryland.

Scientists develop hypotheses – stories – to bridge gaps in the narrative between the known and the unknown. We look at the specimens and data we collect and try to tease out meaning, examining what we have, questioning what we might be missing, and trying to reconcile the two. We do this in hopes that others will come behind us, building on the work we have done, and thereby changing the stories we tell.

As a molecular biologist and eye researcher, I spent close to 50 years engaged in this work, in the field and in the laboratory at the National Institutes of Health. Here, in 1981, I founded the Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology at the National Eye Institute, serving as its chief until 2009 (and now Scientist Emeritus).

All along, as I produced more than 300 scientific articles and reviews, I knew I eventually wanted to be a storyteller in the more traditional sense – an author of books and short stories. Realizing I would need to sow the seeds for this vocation before I retired, I began to write short stories, letting my imagination roam free.

After publishing a scientific book on vision and genetics, Gene Sharing and Evolution, (Harvard University Press, 2007) I decided to turn my hand to fiction, publishing a novel, Jellyfish Have Eyes (International Psychoanalytic Books, 2014), based on my own research into jellyfish vision in the mangrove swamps of Puerto Rico.

More recently, I have completed a memoir about my life in science, and the people who have mentored and inspired me. These include a number of influential scientists and my family: my father, Gregor Piatigorsky, who escaped poverty and pogroms in Russia to achieve international fame as a cellist, and mother, multi-talented heiress Jacqueline de Rothschild, my wife, Lona, and our two sons.


Title: Truth and Fantasy
Author: Joram Piatigorsky
Publisher: Adelaide Books
Publisher Website: https://adelaidebooks.org/
Publisher Email: [email protected]
ISBN: 978-1955196017
Price: $27.30
Page Count: 276 pages
Formats: Paperback


Description of the company: ADELAIDE BOOKS LLC is
a New York based independent company dedicated to publishing literary fiction and creative nonfiction. It was founded in July 2017 as an imprint of the Adelaide Literary Magazine, with the aim to facilitate publishing of novels, memoirs, and collections of short stories, poems, and essays by contributing authors of our magazine and other qualified writers.
-- END ---
Share Facebook Twitter
Print Friendly and PDF DisclaimerReport Abuse
Contact Email [email protected]
Issued By Adelaide Books
Phone 9174778984
Business Address 244 Fifth Ave., D27, New York, NY 10001 USA
Country United States
Categories Books
Last Updated August 17, 2021