Lips of a Mastodon

(BACK COVER) Why does Ted Bernal Guevara keep putting out these James Dean conceptual novels? In plain truth, Guevara says, “He’s like a kid (James Dean) I went to class with, rode the bus with, and slid down an awesome snow-packed hill with.” And after high school, he goes on to Hollywood fame and immortality while Guevara from his modest bookish world is left to wonder about the iconic image, giving it a stark, poignant voice sixty years later. Guevara grew up in Marion, Indiana, where the actor was born. In 1954, Dean met perhaps the one real romance in his brief life. Italian actress Pier Angeli was barely 22 when her movie The Silver Chalice coincided with Dean’s East of Eden at Warner Brothers. She’d sneak over to watch him perform, and he would do the same. When they finally interact, Pier’s mother disapproves of Dean’s behavior, attire, and not being Catholic. Some say it was all for the limelight and publicity. Guevara’s gripping and frank story vies otherwise, excavating the actor’s true passion for the lovely but quaint Ms. Angeli. Guevara is also the author of True Feel, A Circle with Two Corners, and Days of Slint, the first James Dean conceptual novel.