Turkey Vulture gets Narrator Job

April 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Spokane, WA -- Eighty Six the Poet announced his one-thousand line novel-in-verse, narrated by a captive turkey vulture, is available for sale at Smashwords.com for $3.99.  It is the story of a zoo on the day no keepers and no tourists showed up.  The first in a series, this book continues a rich history of fiction about the end of the world, renews an ancient tradition of long-form narrative poetry, and rides the leading edge of the electronic book revolution.

The author states that Cathartes Aura (the latin name for Turkey Vulture) makes the perfect narrator for a post-apocalyptic book because of his sharp senses, lofty vantage point, and curiosity.  Following a meal always puts him in the path of conflict.

To begin this story, the narrator observes that “No one came to work./ The gates were not unchained.  No tourists tapped/ At the glass, grackled, squawked, mimicked the birds./ And we were never fed.”  Tension grows amongst the four trapped birds.  The zoo falls under animal control as some break out and hunt the others.  More than just a gloomy disaster story, this is a tale about character in the face of challenge, the joy of freedom, how animals are much like us, and how we can be like animals.

“I’m not predicting the end of the world,” says Eighty Six, author of the poem, “Rather asking the reader: ‘What would you do if the world as we know it ends?’  Some will build, some will destroy, some will come together, and some will fall apart.”  The poem consists of 10 syllable lines, 10 line stanzas, 10 stanza chapters, and 10 chapters overall.

As part of Spokane’s “Get Lit” festival, Auntie’s Bookstore will be hosting an open reading for local writers from 1-3 pm, Sunday April 17th, during which the author will read a sample of his poem.  The bookstore is located at 402 West Main, Spokane, WA.

The book is available for sampling and sale at:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/cathartesaura/

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About Eighty Six the Poet:
Eighty Six lives with his wife and son in Spokane, WA. He was educated in verse-writing, expository prose, short fiction, literature, drama, children’s fiction, photography, and humanities by Dominican College, San Rafael, CA. He has taught ESL abroad, written for a weekly paper, and worked throughout the restaurant business. He prefers a pen-name because he’d like to be rich but never famous.