Introduction to A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY

When I was a teacher, I always made sure to have students read Christopher Marlowe’s DR. FAUSTUS and Goethe’s FAUST back to back. It was a selfish thing to do but I couldn’t resist. Unquestionably they’re both wonderful pieces of literature but the selfish part was for years I have been obsessed with the Faust story. So it was a pleasure to hear what young people had to say about the story of the tragically flawed doctor and his choices. Sell your soul to the devil for power? Money? Sex? As a rule, the kids initially said they would not even CONSIDER selling out for anything. But then playing the devil’s advocate, I said what if I promised you a Nobel Prize, or the movie star of your choice, all the wealth in Saudi Arabia or or or…

And that’s when our class discussions became very interesting.

I don’t think I’m giving anything away by saying A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY is in part a retelling of the Faust story. When you have intelligent, driven, creative people trying their best to achieve their goals, there is often the smell of brimstone in the ways they go about achieving them. All artists deep in their secret hearts hope their work achieves a measure of immortality. They may not admit it because it sounds egotistical, but it’s true. So, what if I said your poem, photo, painting… will live forever if you sign in blood on the dotted line?

Here’s an old joke — the devil appears to an out of work actor whose prospects and bank account are a few steps below bleak. The devil says I’ll make you as handsome as Gary Cooper, as successful as Clark Gable, as rich as Croesus, and every woman you meet will fall at your feet. The actor says okay, but what’s the catch? The devil says all I want are the souls of your mother, father, sister, brother, aunts and uncles, girlfriend, best friend, etc.

The actor says “Okay, but what’s the catch?”