Two Diaries

About the Book

Two Diaries traces the lives of two artists, whose creativity and sensitivity allow them to expand their inner lives, friendships and careers. Both begin keeping diaries in the early 1970s and kept writing over a 25-year period, through their own personal crises and accomplishments. Because of the situations that they experience, their writing addresses a wide spectrum of topics, from love and meaning to business, wilderness preservation, design, war, and disaster. The same creativity and sensitivity later dooms them to misunderstandings and instability (like the operation of tragedy—what worked when they were young, did not work when they applied it to older careers and older lives). Each finds that writing about one’s self changes one’s self. The diary entries, intended to record feelings and events, become as important as what they were to record. The two diaries spiral around each other in complex patterns, until layers of fantasies, lies, and revisions change the directions of real lives. The imagery includes paintings, drawings, poems, word-play, telephone calls, and letters. The diaries have a form of expression with a historical succession and the depth of individual experiences. The tension between the diary entries, which only the reader can perceive and understand, highlights the drama and tragedy of their lives.

About the Author

Marcus Ryan is a self-educated, self-employed naturalist working in Florida. He created his own program of academic and nonacademic courses, then created a unique position to express his interests, which currently include scrub jay habitat restoration and panther trails. He is a principal in a regional ecological design firm, RE-Design. This is his second novel, after The Thesis.