Paramus Resident Imagines America's Dystopian Future in Debut Novel

Though Paramus, where author Jeffrey Onorato grew up, is far from a utopia, it's a far cry from the oppressive societies he enjoys reading about in books like "1984."

“I love reading about that sort of thing,” he said. “I think it is important to ask questions about the dehumanization of people."

In his new novel “The SIN of Addison Hall,” Onorato has created his own dystopia. The novel imagines a future United States where beauty determines one's place in society.

Its title character is an "unappealing man who is forced by his country’s dictator to live in an unkempt apartment and toil in an unpleasant job."

“In this society we have four classes of people, the blessed, the favored, the burdened and the cursed,” he said. “And you are placed in each class based on your physical appearance.”

Theough he approaches the problem of superficiality with a twisted sense of dark humor, Onorato is legitimately concerned about today's society elevating people for being prettier and more attractive. Onorato borrowed quotes from Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' to emphasize how people are dehumanized in the novel.

“Once we forget the individual value of a human being, we then take steps to creating an atmosphere that was similar in Nazi Germany," Onoroato said. "Remember Hitler was trying to push the ideal of blond haired blue eyed perfect humans.”

He added that curse words in his world have been replaced.

“Instead shouting a swear word, a person will shout, ‘Male Pattern Baldness!’ or some other physical defect,” Onorato said. “In this world, a person attending church instead of dipping their fingers in holy water making the sign of the cross, they will dip their fingers in cold cream and rub it around their eyes. The priests will even lead people to kneel and stand up not for reverence to God, but to keep in shape in an aerobic fashion.”

Onorato said his earliest memories of being a writer came when he was in fourth grade and he would write stories for extra credit.

He continued writing at Bergen Catholic High School. After college, he became a pharmaceutical sales representative traveling all over the world. Onoroato worked on "Addison Hall" while waiting for planes, or otherwise stuck in the downtime of traveling.

He's been working on “The SIN of Addison Hall” since 1998 when he had the idea for the first chapter. He completed it in 2003.

“When I wrote it, I wrote in a free-form style,” he said. “I knew how it started and I knew how it ended and at some points I would have to write out two sentence summaries of the chapters to guide me as I continued to write.”

Onorato had a difficult time selling the novel. He sent out 100 query letters and got 98 rejection letters. It wasn’t until a client suggested he contact Bryant Park Press with his novel.

“I sent them a copy and to my surprise, they accepted it,” he said.

He's working with the publisher on his second novel, which Onorato said had a more mainstream tilt.

Onorato is currently editing the book, which he expects to be out sometime in late 2011. In the meantime, he has relocated with his wife to Rochester, N.Y., where works his day job and continues to write. He returns to Paramus regularly.

“My mom and dad and family still live in the area,” he said. “I am still fond of the place so I will be back to visit.”