Leaving Home

<p>Franklin Cohen is on a mission: He is an extraterrestrial from another galaxy who has been teleported down to Earth in order to learn whatever he can about humanity. In order to do this without being detected however he has to pretend to be a human being himself. And so Franklin Cohen The Extraterrestrial now becomes Franklin Cohen The College Graduate. The Dewey-Eyed Dreamy English Major. Unemployed. Unemployable. Completely unconcerned about his lack of direction. And now living back at home with his controlling parents who find that appalling lack of concern of his ever-increasingly more exasperating. </p><p> </p><p>A labor of love which took the author twenty years to write <em>Leaving Home</em> was originally intended to be a take-off of a Charles Bukowski semi-autobiographical novel (<em>Post Office</em> <em>Factotum</em>). However over the ensuing two decades it slowly evolved into something else. The writing style is at times much more ornate than that of Bukowski; and its simple plot although rooted in realism does contain certain magical elements. As such <em>Leaving Home</em> is an imaginative attempt to infuse new life into an old literary form; i.e. the <em>bildungsroman</em> or coming of age novel.</p><p> </p><p>Finally the author states: I do not know whether this novel I've written using my own brain and my own heart is a great one or merely an average one. Most writers think that their writing is great and I am certainly no exception to the rule. However <em>the pursuit</em> of excellence-regardless of the outcome-is never a delusion. It is always a badge of honor. And I wear that badge of honor proudly.</p>