Alexander Stuart

Glory B. original artwork by Teri Gower. While looking through materials for my workshop on Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye and its influence on my life and work, I came across this original artwork for the cover of my first novel, Glory B. - published in 1983, some years before The War Zone , which my publishers chose to promote as my first novel (it being my first serious literary one). Glory B. was my attempt to write a kind of Pop Art novel about California, cults (particularly est or Erhard Seminars Training , which fascinated me at the time both as something rather clever and something rather suspect) and the music business. The novel featured a not-very-good singer, Gloria Bergen, who is spotted by a music producer looking to try something new, who recognizes that she has charisma, if not singing talent, and decides to start a cult, called Cult, around her.  Its slogan is, "Less is More." The book was hugely influenced both by Altman's The Long Goodby...