An Austin Chronicle Best Book of the Year
Fred, given name Freedom, is the sole offspring of Lenny Snyder, the infamous pied piper of 1960s counterculture. From a young age, Fred has been exploited by his father and used to enhance Lenny's mystique. Now middle-aged, Fred looks back on life with this charismatic, brilliant, and volatile ringmaster, who is as captivating in these pages as he was to his devoted disciples back then. We see Lenny in his prime and then as he gradually loses his magnetic confidence and leading role at the end of the sixties. Lenny demands loyaty but gives none back in return; he preaches love but treats his family with almost reflexive cruelty. And Fred remembers all of it--the chaos, the spite, the affection. A kaledoscopic saga, this novel is at once a profound allegory for America and a deeply intimate portrait of a father and son.
- ISBN10 0307271145
- ISBN13 9780307271143
- Publish Date 16 April 2019
- Publish Status Remaindered
- Out of Print 18 September 2020
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Knopf Publishing Group
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English