Sailing: Inside Passages

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"Life on a cruise ship is an escape from the normalities that make up ordinary daily life. Passengers come aboard the big, beautiful ships to become, for a abort time, a new person, to act out, amid the afforded luxuries , the supposed life of status, ease, and tourism of the “the rich and famous.” The guests at their assigned dining table become their temporary family, the ship ‘s` excursions become their shared diverting playground “outings,” and the ship’s on board entertainments become their “nights out.” But, of course, as the story of the Morgan table on the Europa’s cruise in the Western Mediterranean Sea reveals, under all the splurge and glitter of cruise life is the actual person behind the actor on stage in the dining room, the lounge, the stage shows, and all the off-ship visitations. This novel is about those sudden “outings” of the actual selfness of the guests , who, to their surprise, delight, chagrin, disappointment, discover new awareness of their persistent resident natures at this time of their lives, and for a few, a recognition of a passionate possibility to truly changing their lives. In some way, the enigma of this wonderful cruise affirms what John Keats wrote, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

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