Cosmic Cow

On the surface, Cosmic Cow is the story of Sam and his journey taken under the directions of his then 15-year-old wife, Judy. His journey to Tierra del Fuego and New York ends, ultimately, in San Francisco, where Judy is committed to a mental institution. On this level, Sam's journey is a standard quest, thwarted by his lover's madness. But his “real” journey#&151;a maze of internal perceptions with surrogates of himself and Judy at every turn#&151;is an exploration of how we are sometimes animated by the identities of others. In this work, Eisenstein struggles with a concept of “twins” or “duplicates” on a metaphysical and epistemological level.

As the reviewer for The Review of Contemporary Fiction wrote of this work: “Cosmic Cow is a spiritual journey into lust, a compelling reimagining of the unsettling impact of that intrusive cut of certainty that beckons a soul to undertake its own consumption...Eisenstein is restless with open-eyed realism. As the title suggests, the body, despite its awkward layering of biological circuitry, is atemporal, spaceless, and, yes, cosmic...Eisenstein ultimately affirms that it is language that salvages lust and, like alchemy, transforms its leaden ugliness and drab routine into a precious, if fragile, conviction of spirit. It is a conjure we slugs welcome.”