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| Category: Memoir |
(requires Adobe Reader)
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| About the Book | |
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Clues to recognizing and understanding the fractured psyche of a youngster named Charles appear very early on in his telling of what initially seems to be a charming childhood anecdote, and are scattered throughout his continuing narrative. Through a series of childhood memories, recounted chronologically and in flashback, we follow Charles as he copes with events in his young life that add to the psychological damage. The story is told from the perspective of the boy at the time of the events. The initial childhood traumas that led to his personality flaws can only be hinted at since they are prior to or erased from recollection, but by the time we first meet the young Charles, his major coping mechanism has been established. He likes to walk, take long walks, in which the percussive rhythm and his perceptions of speed and flight are therapeutic. He feels like he's flying, high and free. He has no thought of why that feels good. He has no concept of what is normal or what is not. If he could express it, he'd say, "It is what it is." But the astute reader will read much more into these walks and other coping mechanisms that are subtly revealed. As we reach the conclusion of this story, the boy has come to a degree of enlightenment, but his journey to understanding continues.
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| About the Author | |
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The author grew up in and around New York City during the golden years following World War II, the son of a barroom brawler. He attended thirteen different grammar schools, some while a ward of the state, as his mother moved him and his two sisters from place to place to escape an abusive husband or a landlord looking to collect the rent. Married three times, he has three beautiful children and is proud of his three grandkids, but now lives alone. |