Curt Canfield
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Curt grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, where he acquired most of his beliefs as a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and a Church Youth Group Leader. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict. During his three-year enlistment, he earned two meritorious promotions, traversed most of Southeast Asia and lost most of those beliefs.
He went to college to understand America’s involvement in Vietnam and graduated summa cum laude with degrees in English and History with Honors. He wrote several poems and short stories that were published before he undertook a professional career leading to a partner-level position in a management consulting firm. He practiced internationally and spoke extensively on the strategic use of information technology for the practice and management of legal services. He published numerous articles in leading law journals such as The American Lawyer and the New York Law Journal Curt retired in 2017 to pursue his interests in writing. His debut literary fiction novel, The Errors of Mankind: Mistaking the True Conditions for Our Well-Being was finally published in 2023 after years of research into history, philosophy and religion. Better is the End was published as a sequel in September 2024. His third novel, Manuela is the last in the trilogy published in June 2025. |
The Errors of Mankind
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Literary Fiction
"The Errors of Mankind: Mistaking the True Conditions for Our Well-Being" is an allegory about human nature, probing into the circumstances which gives rise to its evil side as well as its redemption. It is a 2025 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal Finalist "given to the most thought-provoking books. These are books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought." The main characters are: Will, a Vietnam veteran; Johann, a distant relative of Will’s who is a German veteran of World War II; and Lena, an Auschwitz survivor. Will is still struggling to find purpose after losing his beliefs in Vietnam while Johann still expresses a strong belief in the discredited regime he once fought for. The two begin an uneasy collaboration to deconstruct their disastrous past and overcome their cultural and familial legacies but are ultimately led to redemption by Lena. The novel progresses through four cycles of increasing self-awareness for each character as they interact with one another. Together, they reconcile their limited understanding of the world with the infinitude of the divine reason that created it. The characters are fictional, but the historical events relayed are real; both provide the reader with a view of history and human nature that is frequently not explored. 
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Better is the End
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Literary Fiction
"Better is the End" is a literary novel that addresses such universal concepts as: Why am I here? What does it mean to be happy? Am I good? How can I be redeemed? It is the sequel to The Errors of Mankind" and was a Semi-Finalist: for the 2024 Indies Today Award. The main character, Will, feels he has found peace after spending time with Johann, who recently died. He starts writing what he learned from Johann but finds that his new-found peace is elusive as he still harbors a dark anger. Feeling like a recovering alcoholic who is one step away from a relapse, he follows the AA program to try and find relief. He struggles through the steps until he finds a lasting peace in a surprising way. Once again, the characters are fictional, but the historical, social and financial events relayed in the book are real; both will provide the reader with a view of current conditions and human nature that are not frequently explored. 
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Manuela
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Literary Fiction
“Manuela” is the last in a trilogy of literary novels that was published in June 2025. The novel is centered on the life of Will Barnes, which spans the post-World War II period to current times. This novel focuses on the developing relationship between Will and his newly-found granddaughter, Manuela. Will knows he is dying and tries to teach his granddaughter how to face the struggles he has been through so she can face the challenges ahead in her future. However, he soon finds that she is quite capable of standing on her own two feet as she enters Cornell University and fearlessly faces a variety of political issues on campus. Unlike Will who led a self-centered life, her focus is on others and unaffected by the traumas that he has been through. Manuela offers a meaningful and thought-provoking conclusion to the trilogy, providing a fitting tribute to the resilience of human relationships across generations of families, nationalities and ethnicities. 
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