Expanding Earth (a novella) and Genesis as Metaphor (an essay)

About the Book

Expanding Earth (a novella) Family members recall Dr. Nathan talking about the work’s futuristic vision of planet earth’s biosphere being so burdened with the densest-ever human population that conditions require most people to live a subterranean existence. There simply is insufficient above-ground dry-land capacity to accommodate all members of the species at ground level. Dr. Nathan believed that the story could support an engaging, entertaining, and provocative movie, given its context set in an earth that is more overpopulated than imagined in any other book. The novella was intended as a satirical warning of Malthusian eventualities if humans continue to fail to take control of their potential fate. In a 2004 letter, Dr. Nathan described the book as dealing “with a problem that is worldwide. The writing is plot-driven and contains a wide variety of characters. Many readers will find in it an underlying satire of current events.” Genesis as Metaphor (an essay) Dr. Nathan enjoyed teaching a university and life-long learning course titled “The Bible as Literature.” He had observed that most authors writing about the Bible appeared to be bound by a particular religious belief system and were much less interested in the Bible as a literary tome than as religious doctrine. He was sympathetic to presenting Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Islamic, and Fundamentalist interpretations as part of the course, but he insisted they be treated only as particular interpretations. The “Genesis as Metaphor” essay exemplifies his approach to this subject area.

About the Author

A professor emeritus of English literature at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Dr. Norman Nathan published more than 550 poems, 6 books, 39 short stories, and 62 scholarly articles during his prolific writing career. Dr. Nathan’s poems and works of fiction covered a wide range of topics, including, to name a few, the seeming contradictions between the principles of physics and human experience; his childhood growing up in the New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey, areas; aging; politics and economics; biblical themes; English literary themes; and overpopulation.