Younger & Wiser: A Collection of Backstory Poetry and Inspirational Prose
Author: Gene S. Jones
Publisher: Dreamquest Publishing
Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0998324000
ISBN 13: 978-0998324005
Younger & Wiser is a remarkable literary masterwork that goes beyond poetry to span multiple genres by combining provocative storytelling, philosophy, and spirituality with insightful self-help wisdom phrases interspersed with the dynamic backstory feature of modern cinema. A book with universal appeal, this unique collection beckons to you with a smile, offering to enrich and empower your life
Author Gene Jones has created an intriguing new library genre: Backstory Poetry. This fascinating new form of literary expression is sure to pull you in and ignite your passions. Poems in Younger & Wiser stand powerfully on their own before being enriched by personalized backstories that delve into the complexities, joys, and challenges of life by blending the immediacy and power of verse with the conversational tone of contemplative prose. This groundbreaking format portrays the author's fascinating personal odyssey through a series of inspirational tales imbedded with gems of wisdom and inspiring advice on how to live a more fulfilling life
Backstories in all media allow artists and their audiences to share deeper, more intimate experiences by revealing inner workings of the creative process. Most poetry books only reveal fragments of this process, often leaving reader with puzzling unanswered questions such as: –What events inspired each poem? –What emotions raced through the poet’s mind as pen turned thought into art? –What exactly, was the poet's intended meaning? Younger & Wiser answers all these questions in a manner intended to revolutionize the poetry genre by giving it mainstream appeal. In masterfully demonstrating the art of storytelling, Gene Jones creates an intimate conversation with every reader's mind. This profound conversation makes Younger & Wiser a must-read literary experience for readers of all ages and demographics while establishing Gene Jones as the father of backstory poetry.
Review
KIRKUS REVIEWS YOUNGER & WISER
A Collection of Backstory Poetry and Inspirational Prose
Gene S. Jones
BOOK REVIEW
Jones' debut book of poetry offers 65 free-verse poems that are intimate, philosophical, and replete with existential wisdom.
This compilation, featuring poems collected over a period of more than 30 years, intriguingly includes enlightening backstories to complement the verses. These stories explain the circumstances that inspired particular poems, the writer's state of mind at the time of creation, or other details. They give readers a deeper understanding of the verses and offer them, as the author eloquently states, "an additional avenue to illuminate context without diverting a poem's structure." Interestingly, one of the few poems without a backstory, "Self Portrait," serves as the thematic centerpiece of this collection. It chronicles moments in the author's life when he was essentially reborn after painful experiences--including the tragic death of his grandmother, the premature passing of his father, and a serious car accident--and illustrates the idea that life should be about embracing such wisdom and finding fulfillment through self-awareness: "I no longer worry about my destination, as I am here, and that is where I wish to stay." Another powerhouse poem that furthers this theme is "Educated Sweat," which explores the importance of priorities and perception: "I don't put on my best clothes anymore, /having learned the highest mountain peak/is merely the bottomof the sky, /and success can be the ultimate disappointment." The impermanence of human existence is summed up in the poems "Worm's Eye View" and "Composted," in which the poet brilliantly compares the life cycle of humans to that of worms. Overall, although the verses' backstories may initially seem a bit self-absorbed, their ultimate effect is one of increased clarity and enlightenment.
A loosely themed collection that examines life, love, and mortality with wit and wisdom.
Foreward Clarion Reviews
Younger & Wiser
A Collection of Backstory Poetry and Inspirational Prose
DreamquestPublishing (Jan. 25, 2017)
Younger & Wiser goes behind the scenes of poems, enriching an already appealing and rewarding collection.
Gene S. Jones's Younger & Wiser is an inspiring collection of poetry with mainstream appeal that merges ardent verses with corresponding backstories, while also offering a peek into the writer's process. In conversations with fellow writers, Jones realized that the circumstances leading to literary works were often more intriguing than the works themselves. Recalling a poem he penned about his father's premature death, Jones was struck by the idea of recounting the events that inspired his writing. His approachable free-verse poems are fluid and varied. Accompanying backstories bring forth the autobiographical nature of the work, though each poem can be appreciated on its own merit as well.
Poems cover a broad range of topics, including family, acquaintances, dreams, meditation, and the environment. The quietly graceful verbal portrait "Sketch" captures a man and his cat, and its backstory reveals the poem's inception on a brown paper bag. "Worm's Eye View" takes a sobering look at the value of humans versus earthworms in the ecosystem. Emotional themes of love and loss are also featured throughout. In the poignant "Final Child Orphans Club," the lines"with no remedy/ no cure/ no way back" showcase the permanence of the situation. Poems often prove an extension of Jones's frequent travels. "The Search" examines a lonely, contemplative time in Paris, during which the poet attempts to put his life into perspective. After returning to the United States, he ultimately sets a course to refocus his career and romantic goals. In "Meditation," Jones relates the experience of reaching a purely mindful state for the first time. The backstory highlights the genuine restorative qualities of nature. Here the harmonious Hawaiian landscape brings Jones not only mental clarity, but also spiritual balance.
While the majority of the poems include a companion narrative, a few do not. "Self Portrait" delves at length into the poet's major life events; each happening is synonymous with a rebirth. Tapping into memories of childhood, family tragedy, lost loves, renewed faith, and ultimately learning to live a fearless life, its detailed revelations create additional background.
As this compilation covers a thirty-year span, for the most part the inspiration all narratives were composed long after the poems were initially written. The backstory for "Path to a Dream" is the sole literary entry created at the same time as its companion poem. Stemming from an underwater experience reflected through the writer's mind's eye, its essence ponders the nature and power of dreams, and of a person's willingness to embrace dreams' mysteries and pursue them with passion.
With a groundbreaking style that helps bridge the gap between eclectic verse and creative memoir, Younger & Wiser goes behind the scenes of poems to enrich an already appealing and rewarding collection.
Reviewed by Carol Davala
Forward Clarion Reviews March 30, 2017
About the Author
The release of his groundbreaking book Younger & Wiser establishes Gene Jones as the Father of Backstory Poetry. A nationally acclaimed game show host, Jones has dedicated his life to inspiring others to achieve creative excellence. From teaching seminars on innovation to more than twenty-five years of customized speech writing, the breadth of Jones’s eclectic career in the world of entertainment spans more than four decades. Throughout those years, Jones has also enjoyed success as a professional juggler, fire-eater, character actor, producer, director, radio personality, arts administrator, and television sports commentator.
From 1983-1990, Jones served as Associate Editor of the Guinness Book of World Records. He also appeared on numerous networkl television shows as their official spokesperson and world record judge. Directly as a result of his work with the Guinness Book of World Records, Jones created the ingenious GIMME A HINT!® Trivia Game Show . Touring nationwide, he has performed this comedic theatrical game show more than 2500 times since then. In addition to hosting game shows, Jones currently teaches seminars on the Art of Breakthrough Thinking and the Art of Presentation, while often writing speeches for his many corporate and private clients. Also honored for his work in sound healing, Jones received a 2005 Friendship Award from the United Nations for his concert performances with crystal bowls.
Jones has written everything from radio commercials to murder mysteries, but his brilliantly unique backstory poetry in Younger & Wiser—which bridges the gap between literary memoir and eclectic verse—is the missing link of literary expression. It is poetry for both purist and casual reader alike. Penned over the course of Jones’s extensive career, often in exotic locations around the world, the poems of Younger & Wiser were collected in leather briefcases that became their home for decades before being dusted off and distilled into passionate reflections brimming with wisdom and humor. Gene Jones relates his colorful professional life and miraculous personal growth with the specific purpose of creating a book that challenges and inspires readers to live happier, more fulfilling lives.
