David Wales' life as a cocktail pianist in New Orleans' French Quarter during the mid 1950's is complicated by two beautiful young women; Julienne deVille, a wealthy Creole owner of an art gallery, and Aurora Alonzo, a fiery Mexican folk guitarist who experienced a horrendous childhood. Two beautiful older women attempt to control these three for their own secret reasons; his boss, Valentina Sciciliana, and Justine Moreau, a Parisian immigrant who lives in a menage a trois with two young men. Two gay entertainers, a Russian puppeteer named Dimitri Lebedov and a bi-racial choreographer named Alex Pienas, recruit David to write the score for a musical they hope to take to Broadway, the premise of which is that God is a woman and is unhappy with human behavior. God sends an angel named Gabriel, who plays a cornet and looks and sounds like Louis Armstrong, to recruit a pianist in a gay bar to write songs that voice her complaint in order to save the world. Add to this a beautiful female impersonator as one of the musical's stars, a slender young Korean female hired as the musical's publicist, and the world famous nightclubs and restaurants of New Orleans as a backdrop to showbiz intrigue and romantic adventures that border on pornography, but are so beautifully written that menage a trois and gay sex seem only natural and thoroughly fulfilling. This second novel of the trilogy (Piano Lover: The Musical, ISBN 978-1-62768-011-0) includes the script and score of an entire original musical stage production, including lead sheets for 15 original songs. Despite a religious backlash to the musical, the talented alumni from New Orleans French Quarter enjoy mixed success on Broadway and mis-adventures with stage and film stars of the 1950's in places like the Hamptons, Fire Island, and Off-Broadway where they pioneer a movement. New characters include four elderly angels who partly finance the musical, the 'Dragon Lady' who is an officious but alluring young Korean woman hired as the musicals' publicist, and an ex-Nazi German film director who almost derails the musical. William Karl Thomas was Lenny Bruce's only writing collaborator, so it's no surprise that Thomas' work walks on the wild side. His past includes being a cocktail pianist in 'the big easy' circa 1950's, and his past works are said to "read like a Bogart script." All his works include gays and interracial characters. The body of Thomas' work, both fiction and non-fiction, hits the high points of America's 20th century social evolution, and this novel, more than most, intimately explores the gray areas between the gay and heterosexual worlds All Thomas' books are available in print and digital E-editions. Educators and libraries should note that the main body of Thomas' work covers the high points of America's 20th century social evolution with historical accuracy and couched in a dramatic literary style more palatable and entertaining than conventional history books. Subjects covered by his books include The Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Civil Rights Era, the First Amendment crusades of the 1960's, disability issues in America, New Orleans & Gulf Coast history, Italian communities in early Chicago history, Afro-American film star history, mid century Hollywood film-TV-nightclub history, Southern culture, and the American psyche during the 20th century. Details and excerpts of all his books are available on the publisher's website at http: //www.mediamaestro.net
Author Biography:
William Karl Thomas was born 1/25/33 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a small Gulf Coast town in which Tennessee Williams lived and wrote about in his works. In 1951 Thomas married his former high school teacher and was divorced after a four year childless marriage. His checkered background includes being a cocktail pianist in New Orleans French Quarter, serving a year of combat in the Air Force during the Korean War, being a photographer, a journalist, a feature/documentary cinematographer, a screen writer, an industrial film producer, a public relations executive, and a book author. He has worked for and with such notables as Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Lenny Bruce, and others.. In the course of various assignments, Thomas has lived or worked in Oxford England, Paris France, Japan, Korea, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, and various parts of the United States. Thomas' works obviously parallel his multi-faceted career and include celebrities, some of which he knew personally or professionally, who also appear in his non-fiction works. Case in point, in his professional memoir (Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet, ISBN 978-1-62768-003-5) he details his filming a documentary of sculptor Richmond Barthe, elements of which appear in both his Civil Fights Era novel (Cleo, ISBN 978-1-62768-002-8), and in the third novel of The Piano Lover trilogy (Piano Lover: The Movie, ISBN 978-1-62768-013-4). His thirteen books currently in print (www.mediamaestro.net/books.htm), deal with the historical high points of the twentieth century, and should be of interest to educators, historians, and researchers who appreciate the weaving of historical accuracy with masterful story telling and sensuality. The Manchester Guardian has stated, "He superbly evokes the seedy atmosphere of the cheap Hollywood clubs and coffeehouses," and "His work sometimes reads like a Bogart script." Kirkus refers to, "His historically astute depiction of the country and era" and "(He) aptly conveys the heights and depths of human capability," and refers to The Josan and the Jee as "An emotionally challenging but rewarding war novel." Readers reviews say " One of the best books I have ever read; maybe the best," and "This story will make you sad and happy at the same time. It is difficult to put the book down."
