Mr. Wamblie was a success story: upper middle class, wife, kids, suburban affluence and executive status. He has lost it all in a mid-life crisis that includes a year in a psychiatric hospital and ends where the book begins: in a YMCA room. With his constant ruminations and regret, Wamblie is the darker side of life. He reminds us he pursued living without thinking until certain demon questions engulfed him. Is Wamblie a martyr, a prophet or the engine of his own undoing? Are Wamblie's obsessive questions merely self serving? Are Wamblie's caregivers in denial or just more willing to accept the limitations of life? Finally, is Wamblie sane? Do we really know what sanity is and, if so, can we measure it? If Wamblie's fears (while exaggerated) are essentially justified, how can the hospital acknowledge them and still maintain the important divide between sane and insane? This is the 'ceremony of innocence', the unanswerable conundrum that everyone seeks to avoid.
About the Author: A poet for over 30 years, Timothy Richardson was originally trained as an educator and psychologist, the background from which his novel, "Ceremony of Innocence", was derived. The strongly metrical language of this novel is an indicator of the author's major focus: poetry. Timothy Richardson's work has impressed some of the finest poets of the 20th century including former U.S. Poet Laureate, Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer Prize winners James Merrill and Anthony Hecht, Guggenheim fellow and MacArthur recipient, Rosanna Warren and Nobel Laureate, Joseph Brodsky among others. Some of Richardson's poems have been published by "The Partisan Review", Harvard Divinity Bulletin and other publications, but more of his work has led to films: eight complete and two in progress. His unique seminar centering on his sonnet cycle, "Laurels", (a Crown of Sonnets based on Michelangelo's fresco, "The Last Judgment") inspired a unique film also called "Laurels" that merges Renaissance art with digital technology and uses film as a visual metaphor for poetry and the art that inspired it. Laurels takes viewers on a multi-media journey into two works of art and, in the process, breaks down barriers to their enjoyment and appreciation. In its endorsement, Maine Public Broadcasting said the film; "enlightens and expands the horizons of our viewers". "The Force of Poetry" captures a Richardson poetry reading and presentation on the meaning, mechanics and significance of poetry. Digital technology is employed to convey traditional and complex poetic forms as they are explained. In its endorsement, Maine Public Broadcasting said; "The effect is to inject life and heartbeat into what is often thought of as an inert, hard-to-read art form, and the result is both educational and entertaining. "The Force of Poetry is available at http: //tinyurl.com/crz6xhn A taped presentation about Richardson's epic poem on the inner life of Abraham Lincoln, "Mandala", has been shown on cable channels. Short films of single poems are available on internet sites with a CD of poetry readings by the actor Jeff Flint in progress. www.workingwords.me