The Offer follows Stan Pickering, a disenchanted, middle-aged professor of English at a small Ohio college, as he travels the world over a four-month period and is transformed by the experience. Given this sudden opportunity to travel by his recently deceased dissertation advisor, Stan leaves his utterly pedestrian life and discovers a world of excitement and revelation through a series of encounters with places and people. The places were carefully planned by his advisor; the people, however, mostly women, are totally unplanned. In this novel, the places themselves become the central focus of the adventure. Cambridge in England, the island of Skyros in Greece, Damascus in Syria, Penang in Malaysia, Nanjing in China, St. Petersburg in Russia each becomes the recipient of Stan's gifts, and each gives Stan far richer gifts of a new life.
About the Author: Arthur L. Ford is Professor Emeritus of English and Playwright-in-Residence at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. While at Lebanon Valley College he taught a variety of courses, serving as department chair for eighteen years. He also taught as a Fulbright lecturer in American Literature at Damascus University, Syria, and at Nanjing University, China. Later in his career he was appointed Dean of International Programs at the college and was charged with recruiting international students and setting up study abroad programs. Retired since 2001 he and his wife, Mary Ellen, continue to travel. In addition to the usual academic publications, Dr. Ford has published his own poetry, plays, and short fiction. He is the author of a non-fiction book, Cinderella and the Seven Dwarfs: The Lebanon Valley College's 1952-53 Basketball Team's Improbable Run to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and the novel, Shunned.
