Book Details:
Book Title: A Reason for Living by Julian Jingles
Category: Adult Fiction, 382 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: iUniverse
Release date: January 17, 2018
Tour dates: May 21 to June 8, 2018
Content Rating: R
Book Description:
It is the mid-1960s in Kingston, Jamaica, and the country is steeped in social, political, and economic inequities. Howard Baxter, the heir to a real estate empire, has no interest in seeking or managing wealth. Painting and deflowering Jamaican maidens are his passions. As he combs the streets looking for greater meaning in his pathetic life, it soon becomes apparent that Howard's journey will not be easy.
Bernaldo Lloyd, a member of the Baxter clan, is a medical student who is sensitive to the hopelessness of the Jamaican masses. Inspired by his close friend and Howard's cousin, Ras Robin Pone, and their ties with the Rastafari movement that calls for social and economic equity, Bernaldo is determined to overthrow the corrupt government. As Howard, Bernaldo and Robin become influenced by America's Black Power and Civil Rights movements demanding equal rights for African Americans, the women in their lives both love and criticize them. But when revolution breaks out, Howard finally discovers a purpose for his twisted life that leads him in a direction he never anticipated.
In this tale of love, passion, and self-discovery, two Jamaican men become caught up in a 1960s revolution that reveals injustices, oppression, and a purpose for one of them.
Praise for A Reason for Living:
“Riveting, touching on micro and macro relationships of love, sex and politics, and the search of Jamaicans for the essence of their existence, with many compelling scenes and very touching, sensitive dialogues.”
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Dr. Basil Wilson, New York Carib News
"A Reason for Living is a highly complex work that pits sense against sensibility. Emotions surge, transforming men in unfathomable ways. And as love and revolution march in lock-step, Jingles might well have earned a place among the region’s more interesting writers."
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Glenville Ashby, Kaieteur News
“The author, filmmaker, entrepreneur did not wile away five decades as a bystander but may have calculatedly used the hiatus to toil in order to reveal a compelling novel about the creative and volatile ‘60s in Jamaica.”
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Vinette K. Pryce, Caribbean Life
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About the Author:
Julian Jingles has had a professional career spanning 52 years writing for publications such as the Jamaica Gleaner, the New York Amsterdam News, JET magazine, the New York Daily News, and the New York Carib News. He began work on his novel A Reason For Living in 1966, a teenager just graduating from high school in Jamaica. In 1967 he went to work as a journalist at the Gleaner Company, the oldest published newspaper in Jamaica, and the Caribbean. He has written, produced, and co-directed three documentary films, production managed several music videos featuring Kool and the Gang, Steel Pulse, the Main Ingredient, promoted several music concerts, and a stage play, along with investing in several entrepreneurial projects in America, and Jamaica.
What made you write a book about Jamaica? That’s where I was then living, and having some dynamic, and important experiences. Jamaican popular musical forms were evolving and influencing world popular culture. I was inspired and motivated by ska, rocksteady and reggae music, and several of the singers and musicians who were creating the music were my friends and associates. For example BB Seaton and the Gaylads, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jackie Mittoo of the Skatalites.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories? From what’s happening around me, near and far.
Your book is set in (Jamaica and Mexico). Have you ever been there? Yes to Jamaica where I was born, and no to Mexico.
How did you do research for your book? By reading newspapers, magazines, and visiting the library. Computer was not in use then.
In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper? The original manuscript was written on a manual Smith Corona typewriter, Clipper I think it was named. It was not until in the 1990s that I had someone input it on computer.
Is there a specific ritualistic thing you do during your writing time? When I was writing the manuscript of my novel I was mostly nude much of the time. But I don’t do that anymore.
Any hobbies? Listening to music, watching TV mostly PBS stations, and westerns.
What advice would you give budding writers? Read widely and write well.
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