Curt Canfield
Curt grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, where he acquired most of his beliefs as a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and a Church Youth Group Leader. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict. During his three-year enlistment, he earned two meritorious promotions, traversed most of Southeast Asia and lost most of those beliefs.
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He went to college to understand America’s involvement in Vietnam and graduated summa cum laude with degrees in English and History with Honors. He had several poems and short stories published before he undertook a professional career that led to his being partner in a management consulting firm where he practiced internationally and spoke extensively on the strategic use of information technology for the practice and management of legal services. He published numerous articles in leading law journals such as The American Lawyer and the New York Law Journal
Curt retired in 2017 to pursue his interests in writing. His debut literary fiction novel, The Errors of Mankind: Mistaking the True Conditions for Our Well-Being, was finally published in 2023 after years of research into history, philosophy and religion. Better is the End is a forthcoming sequel coming out in the near future.
The Errors of Mankind
The Errors of Mankind: Mistaking the True Conditions for Our Well-Being is an allegory about human nature, probing into the circumstances which gives rise to its evil side as well as its redemption. It is a story that provides a two-fold message: first, the self-centered behavior of individuals and nations eventually destroys both the perpetuators and their victims; and second, only a shared belief and obedience to universal standards can assure the happiness of all.
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The main characters are: Will, a Vietnam veteran; Johann, a distant relative of Will’s who is a German veteran of World War II; and Lena, an Auschwitz survivor. Will is still struggling to find purpose after losing his beliefs in Vietnam while Johann still expresses a strong belief in the discredited regime he once fought for. The two begin an uneasy collaboration to deconstruct their disastrous past and overcome their cultural and familial legacies but are ultimately led to redemption by Lena.
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The novel progresses through four cycles of increasing self-awareness for each character as they interact with one another. Together, they reconcile their limited understanding of the world with the infinitude of the divine reason that created it.
The characters are fictional, but the historical events relayed are real; both provide the reader with a view of history and human nature that is frequently not explored.
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Click on to read extracted chapters that introduce the main characters.
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Available at:
https://www.amazon.com/author/curt.a.canfield
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-errors-of-mankind-curt-a-canfield/1143893556?ean=9781960321602
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Better is the End
Better is the End is a literary novel that addresses such universal concepts as: “Why am I here?", "What does it mean to be happy?", "Am I good?", and "How can I be redeemed?". It is the sequel to The Errors of Mankind.
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The main character, Will, feels he has found peace after spending time with Johann, who recently died. He starts writing what he learned from Johann but finds that his new-found peace is elusive as he still harbors a dark anger against others who he feels are morally wrong. Feeling like a recovering alcoholic one step away from a relapse, he follows the AA program to find relief. He struggles through the steps until he finds a lasting peace in a surprising way.
Once again, the characters are fictional, but the historical, social and financial events relayed in the book are real; both will provide the reader with a view of current conditions and human nature that are not frequently explored. ​
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Click on to view the title page and two extracted chapters.