Welcome to the virtual book tour for The Old Man & The Monkey by George Polley. He was kind enough to take some time to let us get to know him and his story a little bit better.
What
was the inspiration behind this story?
One
morning in late 2006, I had a dream about a large Japanese “snow”
monkey. Since I didn’t remember anything about the dream other than
the fact that I’d had it and that it was about a snow monkey, I did
what I normally do: I asked him what he was doing there. “Tell my
story,” he said. So I got up, made myself a cup of coffee, went
down to my office, sat down at my computer, and started to write.
I
was curious about him. Why had he appeared, what did he want me to
know, and what was his story? “The Old Man and The Monkey” is the
result. He turned out to be a wise old monkey and one of my favorite
characters. The story of Yukitaro (the monkey) and Genjiro Yamada and
his wife Harue has become one of my favorite stories, and all because
that old monkey appeared in a dream one night.
Why
are myths and folktales still relevant today?
Myths
and folktales are stories that teach about what is important to know
about living in this often puzzling world. What is life about, what
are true friendships like, why do we do things this or that way? The
best ones teach without lecturing or hectoring, by involving their
listeners and readers in interesting tales.
What
is your favorite myth or folktale?
You
know, I’ve read so many over the years that it’s no longer
possible for me to pick one out that’s my favorite. They all kind
of run together. In literature, it’s probably J. R. R. Tolkien’s
“Lord of The Rings”, “The Hobbit” and Rowling’s “Harry
Potter” series.
What
is your favorite genre for writing?
I’m
grinning right now. “Why?” you ask. I have too many interests to
have a
favorite genre; instead, I have several, and here they are: Children:
“The Old Man and The Monkey”, “Bear”, “Bear in Trouble”
(to be published in 2013); literary (I know, I know, that’s thought
of as so
boring and passé, but the best literary novels are not); adventure.
I plan to write at least one thriller in 2013, and have a humor book
in mind. I do have rather broad interests. :-)
What
other projects are you working on?
I’m
working on a novel about Mexico City, where I lived for a time in
1973-74. The title is “The City Has Many Faces”.
I
also have two more “Andy and Bear” novels planned: “Harl Lake”
and “Graywolf”.
And
I have a psychological thriller that I’ll write somewhere in there.
What
is something readers may not know about you?
I
have four wonderful children and ten wonderful grandchildren
scattered about from California to Pennsylvania. I’ve been writing
and publishing stories and poems since the late 1960s, all because my
7th Grade English teacher at James Madison Middle School in Seattle
told me I had a lot of talent as a writer way back in 1947, and I
never forgot it.
Thank you so much for your time!
About
the Author:
George
Polley was born in Santa Barbara, California and raised in Seattle,
Washington. He has lived in California (Berkeley and Stockton),
Illinois (Cooks Mills and Villa Grove), Minnesota (Luverne,
Marshal and Minneapolis), and from 1984 until early in 2008, in
Seattle, when he and his wife moved to Sapporo, Japan so that she
could fulfill her dream of returning to the land of her birth.
His work has appeared in the South Dakota Review, Crow's Nest, Expanding Horizons, The Enchanted Self, Community Mental Health Journal, Maturing, The Lyon County (Minnesota) Review Wine Rings, North Country Anvil, North American Mentor Magazine, the McLean County (Illinois) Poetry Review, River Bottom, Tower Talks and Foundations.
He has also authored several booklets in the mental health field, two of them co-authored with Ana Dvoredsky, M.D. in 2007.
George's e-book 'The Old Man & The Monkey' poses one of the most elegant and powerful arguments against racism of all time, and his 'Grandfather & The Raven' argues equally compellingly against violence in all its forms.
His work has appeared in the South Dakota Review, Crow's Nest, Expanding Horizons, The Enchanted Self, Community Mental Health Journal, Maturing, The Lyon County (Minnesota) Review Wine Rings, North Country Anvil, North American Mentor Magazine, the McLean County (Illinois) Poetry Review, River Bottom, Tower Talks and Foundations.
He has also authored several booklets in the mental health field, two of them co-authored with Ana Dvoredsky, M.D. in 2007.
George's e-book 'The Old Man & The Monkey' poses one of the most elegant and powerful arguments against racism of all time, and his 'Grandfather & The Raven' argues equally compellingly against violence in all its forms.
The
Old Man and The Monkey
George
Polley
Genre:
Adventure, Inspirational, Legend
Publisher:
Taylor Street Publishing
ISBN:
9781451543773
ASIN:
B003T0GJ4E
Number
of pages: 60
Word
Count: 7,267
The
Old Man and The Monkey is about a village elder in Japan and the
large monkey who became his friend over the last five years of his
life. Since the villagers don't like monkeys, none of them approve of
the friendship between the old man Genjiro Yamada and Yukitaro ("snow
monkey" in Japanese).
But
Genjiro refuses to give up the friendship, even when his wife objects
to it. After all, monkeys are nuisances and thieves. But over time,
both Genjiro’s wife and the villagers come to grudgingly accept
him, especially when, on several occasions, they receive a special
blessing from him.
'The Old Man & The Monkey' is a stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley's moving allegory of dignity in the face of prejudice and racism.
I look forward to reading your snow monkey story, George. I am currently working on a re-telling of part of the Norse Volsung saga so I was interested to see what you say about myths and their relevance to modern life.
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