Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Just East of Eden: Tales From The Blog

Author: Eric Wilder

ISBN: 9780615152301

One of the greatest strengths of blogging and the world of blogosphere is that it offers to many a voice and platform that is outside the mainstream media. Moreover, it transcends more traditional communication forms and can work in a variety of setting as it can get around the editorial filters that are imposed by the traditional media. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that the most vigorous use of blogging is in creative writing which is well suited to blog coverage, and here is where Eric Wilder fits in. 

Wilder describes himself as a blogging addict and one of his five blogs, Just East of Eden, has now been turned into a book bearing the same name where he shares with us many of the stories first posted on his blog. In the book’s introduction, we are informed that some of these stories are autobiographical while others are purely fictional. However, as Wilder states, “We all know that no story is purely fictional. Sometimes they are the result of too much alcohol and I often awake wondering, ‘I didn’t really write that I think I did, did I?”

After a stretch in the Army during the Vietnam War, Wilder earned a Master’s degree in Geology from the University of Arkansas. Following a brief spell with a major oil company, he started his own oil company and many of his experiences are reflected in his essays and short stories.

When reading Wilder’s essays and short stories I had a sense that here is one writer who has mastered the essay and short story in the same way that one masters a sport or language. He is an amazing story teller who packs his brief tales with wit, quick revelations, colorful characters, and interesting tidbits of information, all written in near-flawless prose which is probably attributable to his vast writing experience having previously authored eight books and sixty short stories.

There is an easy fluidity to Wilder’s essays and short stories and this is particularly apparent in his reminiscences of his oil drilling ventures where his storytelling is at his strongest.

A prime example is his skillful retelling in South of Weslaco when in 1969 after graduating from college, he mudlogged (collected and monitored information from drilling operations) for an oil field service company named Core Lab and nearly lost his life. It was only the quick thinking and action of an unheralded oil patch hero that saved him from certain death or at least serious injury. In another enlightening essay, Early North Louisiana Oil Exploration, Wilder tells us about the discovering of oil in northwest Louisiana which turned out to be the giant Sabine Uplift.

However, not to be overlooked are Wilder’s self-deprecation such as Why I Never Excelled In Sports where we are told that as a kid he was the last one to be selected when sides were chosen for baseball, football and other sports. The exception was when his friend Rod was around and then it was he that was always last. Although, as he says, he has an excuse, “near sighted doesn’t come close to explaining my visions.”  In another vignette of himself, Confessions Of An eBay Junkie, we learn he had made a bid, without even giving it a second thought, $5,500 for a 1985 Mercedes 380 SL with just five minutes to go before closing, and yes, he won the auction. 

Wilder has also entertained us with a few of his few short stories notably Chicken Fries where he recounts the gruesome story of a cow’s udder being cut off and left on a field without a trace of blood. This was not the first time such a horrible event happened and rumor had it that the culprits were Satanists because the mutilations always happened during satanic holidays or eves to holidays. What makes this story compelling is Wilder’s talent in bringing it to life with his keen sense of place and character.

Undoubtedly, readers will find much to enjoy in Just East of Eden: Tales From The Blog with its high quality of writing, humor, and even some interesting tidbits about oil drilling. And to paraphrase Wilder’s last few sentences in his introduction, he certainly does pour out his soul, dances a tango with the most beautiful woman on earth, and shows the warts on his derrière.   

The above review was contributed by: The Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com, Norm Goldman, B.A. LL.L, Retired Title Attorney: Norm is also a travel writer and together with his artist wife, Lily, the couple meld Norm's words with Lily's art. To check out their travel site click on Sketchandtravel.com   Click here to view Norm’s Reviews & Interviews.

To read Norm's Interview With Eric Wilder CLICK HERE

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Just East of Eden: Tales From The Blog