conversations.from: human
conversations.value: a description for a book titled Resurrection Blues about CAPTIVES, Georgia, DRUIDS with the genre: Literature & Fiction, Humor & Satire
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: the author has been a writer all his life, beginning as a child in Minneapolis, MN, and continuing to his current residence in Marietta, GA, which he shares with his bride of four decades, their two undisciplined mutts, and an indeterminate number of under-sized goldfish. A graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Journalism, Josh's writing tastes quickly shifted away from non-fiction. His short stories have been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. His latest novel, CAPTIVES, co-authored with Barbara Galler-Smith of Edmonton, Alberta, debuted in May, 2011. The second title in the historical fantasy trilogy DRUIDS, CAPTIVES is set in the 1st century BC. DRUIDS, book one and namesake of the fantasy trilogy, was a finalist for the 2010 Aurora Award, Canada's top prize for speculative fiction. For his work on that book, Josh was nominated for Georgia Writer of the Year in the same year. When not writing fiction, Josh mentors aspiring young writers and develops multi-media presentations about Georgia's past for historical societies around the state. *** CAPTIVES reached #3 on the Calgary Herald's Best-seller list for April 17, 2011, three weeks *before* the book's official release! ***
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the first sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Journalism, Josh's writing tastes quickly shifted away from non-fiction. His short stories have been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. His latest novel, CAPTIVES, co-authored with Barbara Galler-Smith of Edmonton, Alberta, debuted in May, 2011. The second title in the historical fantasy trilogy DRUIDS, CAPTIVES is set in the 1st century BC. DRUIDS, book one and namesake of the fantasy trilogy, was a finalist for the 2010 Aurora Award, Canada's top prize for speculative fiction. For his work on that book, Josh was nominated for Georgia Writer of the Year in the same year. When not writing fiction, Josh mentors aspiring young writers and develops multi-media presentations about Georgia's past for historical societies around the state. *** CAPTIVES reached #3 on the Calgary Herald's Best-seller list for April 17, 2011, three weeks *before* the book's official release! ***
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: a plot for a book titled Resurrection Blues about CAPTIVES, Georgia, DRUIDS with the genre: Literature & Fiction, Humor & Satire
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Resurrection Blues: The story is set in an unnamed Latin American country that is painfully third world.\nThe plot revolves around a captured prisoner who may or may not be the second coming of Christ, though Miller deliberately leaves the divinity of his unseen protagonist ambiguous.\nHe is said to be able to perform miracles such as walk through walls, a major problem for the prison guards, and, because his popularity among the impoverished citizens, the military dictator of the nation has sentenced him to be crucified.\nThis creates many moral dilemmas with the play's cast of characters, which include a wealthy land-owner who is the cousin of the dictator, his depressed daughter—a close friend of the accused—and an American television production team that arrives to broadcast the crucifixion.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: the first five paragraphs for this book
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Resurrection Blues
  JEANINE: Nothing to be alarmed about. I finally decided, one morning, to jump out my window. In this country even a successful suicide is difficult. I seem to be faintly happy that I failed, although god knows why. But of course you can be happy about the strangest things... I did not expect failure in my life. I failed as a revolutionary... and come to think of it, even as a dope addict—one day the pleasure simply disappeared, along with my husband. We so badly need a revolution here. But that's another story. I refuse to lament. Oddly, in fact, I feel rather cheerful about it all, in a remote way, now that I died, or almost, and have my life again. The pain is something else, but you can't have everything.
  My father has returned to be of help. I am trying to appreciate his concern after all these years. Like many fools he at times has a certain crazy wisdom. He says now—despite being a philosopher—that I must give up on ideas which only lead to other ideas. Instead I am to think of specific, concrete things. He says the Russians have always had more ideas than any other people in history and ended in the pit. The Americans have no ideas and they have one success after another. I am trying to have no ideas.
  Papa is so like our country, a drifting ship heading for where nobody knows—Norway, maybe, or is it Java or Los Angeles? The one thing we know for sure, our treasure that we secretly kiss and adore—is death—
  We have eight feet of topsoil here, plenty of rain, we can grow anything, but especially greed. A lot of our people are nearly starving. And a bullet waits for anyone who seriously complains.
  In short—a normal country in this part of the world. A kind of miraculous incompetence, when you look at it.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: three more paragraphs. Start with the sentence 'SKIP: No!! Absolutely out of the question '.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: SKIP: No!! Absolutely out of the question... this has nothing to do with the Jews! Or Jesus either!
  SKIP: Stop it!—Excuse me, Emily, no reflection on your personal heritage, but I mean, this will run in like Mississippi and even the Middle East, like Egypt... we do a lot of business in Egypt and Pakistan, and there's no point irritating the world's largest religion—I mean, from their viewpoint it's bad enough implying the son of god was Christian without making him Jewish, for Heaven's sake.
  Not to worry about the exclusivity, I have the Army blocking the only road up this mountain; no other crew can get up here.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: the last three paragraphs
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: FELIX: Don't worry about the country, Charley, I'll take care of it. You come down, you hear me? I'm talking syndication, this is one big pot of money! I'm talking new hotels, I'm talking new construction, I'm talking investment. You care about people? Come down and get crucified!
  STANLEY: Go away, Charley, before they all kill each other! You gotta give us a sign, baby, what's it gonna be!
  JEANINE: Good-bye, my darling!... But could you think about... maybe trying it... another time?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Swap the first and the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: another time? You come down, you hear me? I'm talking syndication, this is one big pot of money! I'm talking new hotels, I'm talking new construction, I'm talking investment. You care about people? Come down and get crucified!
  STANLEY: Go away, Charley, before they all kill each other! You gotta give us a sign, baby, what's it gonna be!
  JEANINE: Good-bye, my darling!... But could you think about... maybe trying it...FELIX: Don't worry about the country, Charley, I'll take care of it.