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Eusebius Clay

Goodreads Author

url

http://www.goodreads.com/ebclay

born

Baltimore

website

http://www.medium.com/@ebclay

twitter username

eusebiusclay

genre

Classics, Poetry, Historical Fiction

influences

Shakespeare, Melville, Poe, Kierkegaard, Camus, Sartre, Dostoyevsky, G...more

member since

December 2012

About this author

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I have recently researched my lineage and discovered that I am a direct descendant of a roman senator from antiquity. I'm not sure what that means or what implications are involved.

The first book I ever read on my own was a children's abridged version of the Bible when I was four, complete with cartoon illustrations. Although I had many abridged picture books from which to choose on my bookshelf, for some reason, I chose that one. As far as reading was concerned: I came, I saw, I conquered. I crushed the entire collection of Dr.Seuss, ravaged Roald Dahl, and then demolished Dickens. At some point, in the early years, a time that now only exists as scattered snapshots in my memory, I blew through Grimm's Fairy Tales. My favorite genre at t...more I have recently researched my lineage and discovered that I am a direct descendant of a roman senator from antiquity. I'm not sure what that means or what implications are involved.

The first book I ever read on my own was a children's abridged version of the Bible when I was four, complete with cartoon illustrations. Although I had many abridged picture books from which to choose on my bookshelf, for some reason, I chose that one. As far as reading was concerned: I came, I saw, I conquered. I crushed the entire collection of Dr.Seuss, ravaged Roald Dahl, and then demolished Dickens. At some point, in the early years, a time that now only exists as scattered snapshots in my memory, I blew through Grimm's Fairy Tales. My favorite genre at that time was not romance, mystery, or thrillers; I was enamoured by fantasy and fables. I distinctly remember reading "The Hobbit" in fourth grade over a period of a couple of days. I read "Beowulf" in Middle School. The Catcher in the Rye left a bad taste in my mouth, and Catch-22 only amused me slightly.

High School turned me off from math and science even though English was my weaker subject. It was at about that time that I read Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World (and later, the doors of perception), Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. I enjoyed Steinbeck, but now he is merely a figment of my imagination. I decided to steer towards Shakespeare.

Against all odds and statistics, I decided to major in English and minor in creative writing. If I were a rational person, I would have looked at the numbers from standardized test scores and played the winning hand, but love and passion aren't rational, and I loved literature.

In college, I received an "F" on a paper I wrote about Margery Kempe, which I titled, "The Evils of Avarice." On the weekends, I would read Jane Austen and Faulker in the college library on a beanbag in a remote corner. When I would get bored, I would take breaks to play chess with a jovial gentleman who was a Mathematics major. When the single chess set in the library was occupied, sometimes we would play in our head.

I excelled at creative writing, but I'm not sure if it is a subject that can actually be quantified or compared. I was better at "creative writing" than I was at "English" according to my GPA.

I studied the major works of William Shakespeare abroad at Oxford University. I never read "The Tempest", but I am now tempted to, at the expense of the success of my current creative project. The highlight of that experience was the play "Sir Thomas More" at Stratford, and a Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Globe.

After college, I spent an exorbitant amount of time in libraries and bookstores. Some days I would arrive in the morning, read four to five books, and leave at night. My favorite place to do this was in a comfortable leather chair at Border’s bookstore. I was deeply disappointed when they went out of business (perhaps people like myself were partially to blame because I didn’t always purchase some of the books that I read), but I am very excited about new technology and sites like Goodreads. Please do explore my virtual bookshelf to see some of the books I have read. I hope you find a few that pleasure you.

I do not believe that any American writer, with a few exceptions--Poe and Melville mainly--has ever come close to anything any British author has ever created. After I read "Moby Dick" (which may or may not have been inspired by Poe's "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym"), I felt a sudden and violent urge to throw every American classic I had ever read straight into the trash. I am using hyperbole of course, but the American literary fiction that you see in bookstores now, I believe, has a very low chance of withstanding the test of time, not because of a lack of talented authors, but rather, we have authors writing for publishing companies that instruct writers to write literary fiction that they (less)

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Eusebius Clay's Blog

Arguments for and against the legalization of assisted suicide

Arguments for and against the legalization of assisted suicide:

For:

1) Argument from nature: Assisted suicide should be legalized because human beings have been killing each other and themselves since the dawn of time. It is perfectly natural. The act of suicide was considered “noble” in Roman civilization. In Japanese Samurai culture, the act of “seppuku” was greatly respected.

2) Argument fro...

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Eusebius Clay's Books

Average rating: 1.00 · 2 ratings · 0 reviews · 2 distinct works · Similar authors

	Dread in Madrid and other stories 1.0 of 5 stars 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Seeing The Dark Knight through the lens of Campbell, Milton, Plato, Hegel, Pascal, Kierkegaard, and the Christian Mythos: A Philosophical Essay 1.0 of 5 stars 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Eusebius Clay is now friends with Joe Benincase
Oct 07, 2014 04:28PM · like
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Eusebius Clay wants to read Love Letters in the Sand: The Love Poems of Khalil Gibran by Khalil Gibran	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Eusebius Clay wants to read The Twyborn Affair by Patrick White	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Eusebius Clay wants to read The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Eusebius Clay is now following Rachel Snow and Karina Fabian
Jun 16, 2014 03:14PM
Eusebius Clay rated a book 5 of 5 stars Cold Comes Through by Jim Bennett (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Eusebius Clay wants to read Infinity + One by Amy Harmon (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 09, 2014 03:14PM · like