Cosmogoria

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This book is a collection of three novellas: Cosmogoria: A Tale of Two Galaxies, The Villa, and The Last Four Wives of Jamil el- Jamali. Cosmogoria: A Tale of Two Galaxies, begins like a classic Star Trek adventure, but ends with a possible explanation of the destiny of the universe. It covers several generations and introduces the concepts of thought-travel and clone-travel. In The Villä, a happily married husband and wife, writers and translators, have been on the international lecture circuit for some time. However, in this tale, they go to a third-world country for the first time, and learn some new things about themselves. There are mystical overtones to this story. The third novella, The Last Four Wives of Jamil el-Jamali takes place mostly in the Sultanate of Oman in the middle of the twenty-first century. At the opening, Jamil s wife, who had made his life miserable, is dead, and his uncle advises him to follow the Qur-an and take four wives, doing justice to all four. He can certainly afford it, since he is a very successful jeweler. Hence, one by one he marries women, each having different backgrounds. Things begin to happen to the various relationships, not so much because of Jamil s attitude, but more because of the attitudes of two of his wives. Women s liberation in the Muslim world is a developing phenomena at this time, and is a new factor in Jamil s life. There is considerable sexual activity in this novella, but it is handled poetically, given the setting, and in keeping with the tone of the entire work.