Blaze Pascal and the Courage of Being, is set in Los Angeles. It is philosophical, lyrical, and transcendent, written in free modernistic verse. Blaze Pascal is a philosopher and broods on the brokenness of the world. He is drawn to a Platonic mysticism of truth, compassion for all beings, and the courage to be in the face of non-being. But he is a lonely old soul who loves music and dancing. He tells no one of his night visits to the big city, the city of music, movie stars, and mean streets. It is the tension between the bright road of philosophical reflection and the dark road of human desire that drives the novel forward. It is a novel of big ideas, East and West. It risks pushing the boundaries of mainstream expectations in astonishing ways.