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Gilbert Creutzberg !

    

         Gilberto a caballo

         Gilbert horseback riding

         in La Confluencia

         Jarabacoa, Republica Dominicana

 

Ride

the Forbidden Horse

and Other Stories

 

Todd & Honeywell, Inc.

First edition

ISBN  0-89962-344-1

© 1984  Gilbert Creutzberg  All rights reserved

 

CreateSpace.com

Second edition

ISBN  145058845X

ISBN13  9781450588454

© 2010 Gilbert Creutzberg  All rights reserved  

Four years after "Ride the Forbidden Horse"

came out, the publisher, Todd & Honeywell, went

out of business, without leaving a clue how to order copies.

Not until 25 years later, when my second book,

"The Mosaic," was published in 2009, did I notice

that both books were listed by Amazon.com.

 

 The back cover reads: 

"Ride the Forbidden Horse" is a collection of 

short stories with an emphasis on stark realism. These

'tales from the streets' are concerned with sexual love, 

drug addiction, crime, prostitution and mental illness. 

Readers will find every human emotion expressed in

this fine collection. Each story has an unusual twist in plot...

The author has a keen eye for descriptive narrative and

makes the characters come alive out of the pages and

into the lives of the readers.

 

   After re-reading my collection of short-stories that 

had been dormant over the years, I decided to reissue it. 

I had to ask myself, ?Is this book, published in 1984, 

still relevant in our time?? I answered my own question

with a resounding ?Yes.?  Surely, we  lived then in a 

world without I-pods and cellular phones, but the stories

are not outdated and human feelings and conflicts haven?t

changed. The book has not lost one iota of its relevance 

to life in 2010. People are still people.

 

  The five stories in this book have a common theme, 

 

which is metaphorically suggested by the title,

 

"Ride the Forbidden Horse."

 

The author attempts to delve into forbidden areas of life

 

 ? the taboos, the unmentionables. These are tales of 

 

human passion in which raw sex and drugs are frequently

 

interwoven in a subtle play of human relationships.

 

The symbolic significance of the horse as an archetype

 

 is not limited to  one meaning, as Carl Jung shows in 

 

Symbols of Transformation.

 

 As a prelude to the other stories, the frightening loss of

 

control over the forbidden horse signals the loss of impulse

 

 control associated with drug addiction, mental illness, 

 

violence, and death.

 

It is the story of Phaeton, who, disobeying the command 

 

of his father, Helios, the Sun-god, seized the rains of the 

 

ferocious horses that moved the sun along its route across

 

the heavens, but, losing control, he plunged into the ocean.

 

Yet, as in the myth, the cycle of life continues.

 

     

Some comments from readers
 
   Students in several sociology classes under 

my instruction have been using this book as a

supplement to their textbook.
?Ride the Forbidden Horse? provides a near 

authentic look at the forbidden areas of life 

in both sexual and drug relationships?..

It peeks at the world of central city combat

zones and deviant encounters. I highly endorse

this book to vitalize sociology courses taught

to college students.

 

Charles J. Cataldo, DSW
Assistant Professor, Sociology
Plymouth State College
New Hampshire

1984                                                                     
 
 
   I applaud a book entitled "Ride the Forbidden Horse,"

by Gilbert  Creutzberg.
I am a social worker, working in the field of substance

abuse and was pleasantly surprised to find a book of 

short stories which accurately and realistically pictures 

drug abuse and addiction and brings up important issues

regarding drug abuse, drug treatment and mental health

in addition to being literate, well written and interesting.
I recommend it highly to my colleagues in both the 

substance abuse and social work fields.
 
Edith Springer, MSW, ACSW
St. Luke?s/Roosevelt Hospital Center

New York, NY

1984

    

The Mosaic

   Strategic Book Publishing/AEG Publishing Group

   ISBN   978-60693-736-5     SKU   1-60693-736-7

  © 2009 Gilbert Creutzberg   All rights reserved

   ( Original hard cover edition ) 

 

   Second edition (soft cover) 2010 by 

   Strategic Book Group 

   ISBN: 978-1-60976-772-3

   © 2010 Gilbert Creutzberg  All rights reserved

 

   Electronic edition 2012 by

   Strategic Book Group

   ISBN: 978-1-61897-503-4 

   © 2012 Gilbert Creutzberg All rights reserved

   (Amazon.com, Kindle store

    Barnes & Noble, Nook store

    Other countries, all electronic editions) 

     

    "The Mosaic" is a book about Nazi-occupied Holland, 

when the author was a teenager...

a book that tells about how Gilbert's family stood up

 against the oppressor...

and how his cousin risked her life by rescuing a Jewish baby...

you'll read how the church where Gilbert's father was the pastor

 was destroyed by the Nazis to make room for the "Atlantik Wall"...

and you learn about the heroic resistance by Jan Verleun, 

who gave his life in the fight for freedom...

the book tells how a priceless art work, a mosaic depicting

 the Last Supper, was salvaged...

you also want to know what we have learned 

from those war years, and what we are prone to forget... 

 

 Some comments from readers

 

This extremely readable book ? named after a mosaic

in his father's church that was rescued from destruction

before the Nazis demolished the church ? tells the story

of life under the Nazi occupation and of the hardships

that followed, and raises important questions about the

 nature of humanity and the meaning of evil.

 The Episcopal New Yorker, Dec. 2009

 

 There is a new book out about the Dutch Resistance 

during WWII, centering on their protection of holocaust 

refugees. entitled THE MOSAIC. It reads a bit like a

 Steinbeck novel, with a nice fluid style. The time frame

 transitions are interesting, as well as Creutzberg?s

 personal accounts, which are fascinating. He basically

 maps out his personal growth experiences alongside

 the wars?developments.

Jim Kental

Yahoo Message Boards

 

This book opened my eyes! It's? a fascinating account

of this young boy living through the invasion by the 

Nazis in Holland... I recommend it to everyone.

baybrennen2

YouTube

 

  I loved your book. The form fits the title and life,

 too, which is fragmented. Someone asked me once 

to tell about my life and I said, ?Which one??  How nice

to have met someone else who has dreams of flying.

 In my dreams, I am the plane/leaf/bird. What a feeling

 of power! It is glorious. I felt in reading your book that

 I have met a dear friend.

 Lorna Ryder, 2009

Guest book www.gilbertcreutzberg.com

 

  He didn't know it at the time, but the morning of 

May 10, 1940 was a pivotal morning in the life of

Gilbert Creutzberg, who was then 11 years old. 

That was the morning German troops invaded Holland, 

which was a neutral nation, like Switzerland. It took

 some time for young Creutzberg to grasp the

ramifications. In fact, much of the country was in

 a state of disbelief. They believed that, as a neutral 

country, they were safe. Hitler's Nazi army proved 

otherwise. 

"Though close to tears, a curious sense of 

dispassionate observation crept over Gilbert. 

He was aware that this was a very important

 moment in history and there was no reason to cry. it was as if 

things would remain somewhat unreal as long as he stayed an 

observer," wrote Creutzberg in his memoir, "The Mosaic."

 It wasn't until a Jewish classmate disappeared that the horror 

of the situation began to sink in for young Creutzberg

 
Kim Harnett 

Suburban Trends, Feb. 2010

 

Tasting Life 

for What It Is

 

Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co.

ISBN 978-1-62212-105-2

© 2012 Gilbert Creutzberg - All rights preserved

(Paperback edition and e-book edition)

 

It's a collection of short stories and a stage play.

If you liked  "Ride The Forbidden Horse 

and Other Stories," you'll like this  book.

A number of the stories deal with alcohol and drugs.

One story deals with racial conflict.

Here and there the paranormal pops up.

This is not a book recommended for children

unless they are very precocious.

The language and subject matter are raw,

like my first book,  "Ride the Forbidden Horse

and Other Stories."

 

Press Release:

What are we looking for in life?

   This collection of fiction contains seven short stories 

and a stage play. Its common thread is our need to taste life

 for what it is, though that need may be markedly different 

from one person to the next.

   The spice of life sometimes involves the forbidden, the bizarre,

the dangerous. From our very beginnings, love and sex 

have been spiced with drugs and alcohol to enhance our sensations. 

We yearn for redemption, but often get trapped in a maze.

   This powerful book offers a close look into the lives of people 

who are tasting life for what it is.

 

   About the author:

Gilbert Creutzberg was born in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1928.

 He attended the University of Utrecht. In 1951 he immigrated to 

the United States and became a citizen in 1971.  

   He obtained a BA in psychology from New York University, 1955 and earned 

MA degrees at the New School University, 1963, and at 

Columbia University, 1968. His career has been in the field of

 substance abuse as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor.He is also a

Licensed Mental Health Counselor and is presently working part-time

 in that capacity. 

  Creutzberg wrote ?Ride the Forbidden Horse,? published 1984.

?The Mosaic,? 2009, is  an autobiography about his youth in 

The Netherlands during the Nazi occupation  and the involvement 

of his family in helping Jewish citizens. His third book, 

"Tasting Life for What It Is," a collection of short stories and 

a stage play, came out in 2012.

  An amateur pianist and organist, a bridge Life Master, he also 

likes long distance swimming, practicing daily Yoga, Kung Fu

 and Transcendental Meditation.

   He enjoys spending weekends with friends at his 

wilderness property in the wooded Pocono Mountains. 

 

 

Contact:

e-mail to:

gilthedude@gmail.com

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