JACK'S BOOKS

Fiction & Non-Fiction

by John McDonnell Tierney, PhD

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THE BOOK
A NOVEL

The Confluence of Faith, Science and the potential for Peace. The BOOK by John McDonnell Tierney designed to teach and entertain. The author offers a Big Idea (Don’t Kill); timeless topics (morality, justice, human nature, spirituality) through which to explore and think about the Big Idea; and an engaging context (the story) in which this exploration and thinking plays out. Throughout the world today, many people are making decisions about morality, what is right and just, based on their interpretation of what is “godly.” This is the story of one of the nearly four billion People of the Book trying to decide if their God wants them to love their neighbors or kill their neighbors. In The Book, you will be privy to “fictional” but factually-representative conversations regarding what some “believers” believe. Should we have war or peace? Should same sex couples be allowed to marry? Should climate change influence our actions? Should women have access to birth control? To answer these and other literally life and death questions, “believers” frequently seek guidance from a God who speaks to them through a book, a Holy Book on which they build their religion.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN SHOW BUSINESS
BY REALLY, REALLY TRYING!

Climbing the metaphorical “ladder of success” in show business has been compared to climbing Mt. Everest. It is unnecessary to explain why that climbing that iconic peak is a hugely difficult proposition and not for the faint of heart. That said, there are, in fact, many who have ascended to the summit of the actual mountain and of their personal “Mt. Everest” as well. They achieved their possible dreams; they have made a living and a life in show biz “...singin’ and dancin ’in the rain!” Hey, maybe you can too! Then again, maybe not.
 

This book is different!
Most “How to Succeed” books tell you that you can and will succeed if only you believe in yourself and never give up pursuing your impossible dreams, you know the song!

"This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far.”
from "The Impossible Dream" by Mitch Leigh
 

This book is about The Possible Dream. It challenges you to honestly evaluate whether “success in show business" is, in fact, really, really “possible’ for the person you are, the brain that you have, and the body you live in.  It will neither encourage nor discourage you to “follow that star,” it will simply provide some insight into what it takes to make the journey.

Three Short Stories
for a Winter's Eve

My Grandfather’s Dinosaur came from observing my friend Alvin use his excavator to pull dead trees and stumps on my property in the North Woods of Heath, Massachusetts. He left the huge machine at my house for a week. I called it “Alvin’s Dinosaur.” One day, watching Alvin skillfully operate his dinosaur, it struck me how the machine almost looked alive.

I thought about how a young child would see this and how an old woman might remember it in their “personal realities.” 

How Flowers Taught the Two-Legged Cows To Know Her Name came to me after encountering a real cow with the number 81 on her ear tag.  I wondered, "What’s her cow name, her Bovine name?" I was sure it was not Eighty One. How could she make the two-legged-cows (aka farmers) use her real name! It’s amazing what a cow (and kids) can do when really motivated!

Dog Boy’s Long Night Moon came from a night outside sitting by the fire as a full October moon lit the landscape. My wife Patricia made the comment, “They call it the ‘Long Night Moon’.” I had not heard the phrase before and I liked it. So, with nothing more than a title in mind, a story emerged about the intimate relationship of mentor and protégé, teacher and student. Both groups, in my experience, tend to focus on “teaching.” Teachers ask “What do I want you to know,” and students ask, “When are you going to teach me.” This story suggests that sometimes, “It's not about the teaching.”

ON BEING HUMAN:
MONOLOGUES & ESSAYS 2009-2011
“Insightful commentary on some of the basics: emotion, connection, spirituality, identity, sexuality and more.”
 

"Being human is a work in progress says John Tierney in this easy-to- read collection of monologues and essays on…well... being human. “Dr.T.” as his students call him, offers insightful commentary on some of the basics: emotion, connection, spirituality, identity, sexuality and more. Through anecdotes and stories Professor Tierney infuses in his writing the humor and wit that has made him popular with students for more than four decades, a ‘little weird’ by his own admission yet engaging and often LOL funny. John challenges you to nurture a finer moral sense within yourself; to imagine a finer moral order in the world; and, to lead the way for others. He asks that you start with a single moral truth: It is wrong to kill other humans!"

On Being Human is temporarily unavaiable as a free PDF.

Buy Hard Copy on Amazon: $6.95.

MAKING SENSE
IN THE FIELD OF TIME AND SPACE
Reflections of the Education of Young Human Beings

"This little book is a collection of reflections on various topics more or less related to the education of young human beings.
Each reflection is a simply stated idea; something to think about. The content of this work is nothing more than the sense I have made about education...it’s my personal reality. It comes from experience and intuition. I make no claim to be “right” about anything. This is just what ‘makes sense’ to me.
 

REFLECTIONS ON...