Showing She and I: A Fugue by Michael R. Brown

A non-fiction memory piece, "She and I: A Fugue" focuses on a man's evolution through contact with women. Starting in his infancy, a series of striking females change Brown's life dramatically - for better or worse. When his first marriage ends with his wife's death, Brown finds himself alone, thrown into a crisis of meaning.

In 2000, Brown joins a group of young intellectuals dispersed across the globe. When a teenage member of the group - an 18-year-old ballerina in Boston - writes him a letter, the two quickly become infatuated. It's a relationship that will alter Brown's life forever.

An unexpected journey into the male heart, "She and I: A Fugue" finds a new style, and a new view of the deep underground connection of man to woman.

"... a unique blend: novels with comparable character interactions are common, but they're fictional, and thus fantastical. Conversely, memoirs are never as personal ... perhaps that's why I found 'She and I' so emotionally gripping." - Bernie Horowitz | "I really don't cry easily, but this had me weeping." - Lindsay Woodcox | "A glimpse into a relationship's heart." - Susan Hymas | "... quite unusual, and quite gripping ... juicy and full of emotional events as he pursues love where it takes him ... he does not aim to titillate; rather he means to inspire." - John J. Enright | "Tonight I finished - tears falling, drying then welling up again. I feel grateful." - Kathleen Glass | "Rich, breathtaking ... each scene a story unto itself. Love the texture." - Stefanie Harvey | "Powerfully written ... very poetic ... poignant ... an amazing accomplishment." - Carol Fiore | "I couldn't put it down. I sat in my chair all night and read it all. It's inspired me to start writing - to chronicle some of the really good stuff of my life." - Chris Crawford - Preview reader reaction

"... the effect of such lyrical writing will not be lost on most readers. This is a memoir that is able to draw from both poetic and narrative elements, blending language and metaphor with story into a tapestry that reads with the clarity of a story but with the lyricism of a poem. The effect is musical. Four out of Five Stars." - ForeWord CLARION Reviews

"An obsessive metaphysical Internet romance between May and December is loaded with long-distance yearning, self-actualization, Zen aphorisms and idiosyncratic punctuation. Beginning with his early memories of life as the child of a single mother in the mid-'60s and ending with a meditation on what he learned, 'She and I' recounts the author's lifelong journey toward understanding himself in light of the Eternal Feminine. But his relatively chaste intimate history with various ladies, as described in this debut novel, reads more like George Bernard Shaw's 'Don Juan in Hell' than the Marquis de Sade's 'Philosophy in the Bedroom,' since there's much more talk than there is actual physical contact - especially with Mira, the 18-year-old ballet student the 35-year-old Brown meets online in 2000. The usual giddy rush of infatuation ensues, progressing steadily from e-mails and instant messages to long-distance phone calls to the ultimate challenge - face time. Brown travels from the West Coast to Boston and it's all music, fire and poetry when they meet. They see themselves in each other - and envision some sort of future together ... Literate and engaging in a low-key, contemplative way, the author's prose will appeal to romantics of a certain stripe and those who see great meaning in the smallest gesture or the word unspoken. For those who like their prose more substantial and standard in form, Brown's chat-room style of condensed syntax and inelegant contractions ("When her breathing'd gone regular, I turned. Again moon'd come - again I'd watch, think, drift.") may seem a bit precious. A slightly steamy philosophical tome for the online community." - Kirkus Discoveries