Thanks to Jocelyn Kelley of Kelley & Hall Book Publicity, I am giving away one copy of A Soul in the Wind.
Book Description:
In 1946, Gideon Fruitman slid prematurely into the world to find himself in the back of an ambulance speeding toward the hospital through a blinding snow- storm―and that was the easy part! Over the next five decades, his humorous but often tragic journey reflects mankind’s struggle to understand and survive the forces that shape the human condition. A Soul in the Wind is truly everyone’s story, but it especially weaves itself into the fabric of the post-World War II generation, who were privileged to be a part of the ever-changing landscape of the last half of the twentieth century. The philosophy, the politics, and even the music of this exciting period are reexamined as Gideon searches for success, love, and sex in a world that constantly challenges his longing to find Paradise. A portrait of Gideon emerges as we are given a look inside a mind locked in overdrive, leaving the reader questioning his own path through life, and the dreams that got away.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
I started to cry. The faces had begun to crack. The skin was stretched and dull. Most of the men were bald, except for a few who tried to sport their old, high school Fabian look. The women had changed, too. Their hair had gone from flowing, sandy blonde streaks, to a cotton-candy shade that was teased into a dome, and glued into place. And, somewhere in the course of time, all of them had forgotten how to dress.
Yet they seemed excited, rejuvenated with an unfamiliar energy, as the curtain opened and the Oldies concert was about to begin. It was a Public Television telethon, a holiday fundraiser, but at least it helped divert my mind from the sharp pain that had been slicing into me since early September, when I began this journal. A pain that told me the end was coming, that the quest to be someone special needed to be written down, revisited, so that maybe I could understand what went so wrong.
Then the performers came out on stage, one by one. Superimposed on the corner of the TV screen was their album cover (often their one and only) ― nothing high-tech, like nowadays, just a picture of a group, like young kids posing at the prom. But the prom was over. They were middle-aged. Former stars, now unrecognizable.
Really great songs, though. And when the camera panned back to the audience, the women, and even many of the men, could be seen mouthing the lyrics, remembering that moment long ago when their lives too were so different, and filled with such hope.
49 YEARS EARLIER
Chapter Two
With God laughing in the background, my mother went into labor, two months early, during a snowstorm, in the back of an ambulance. I don’t remember my birth. Judging from the baby photos, it’s just as well. My head had taken on the shape of its excursion, my hair was slick with fluid, and my eyes were crushed into narrow slits. I looked like a smashed melon, ready for the trash.
But it made the newspaper. Front page: “BABY CAN’T WAIT TO ENTER THE WORLD.” Had I known, though, what lay ahead, I would have turned around and never emerged. Unfortunately, the human animal, in all its divine wisdom, has never figured out this trick. So, instead, I endured a painful slap, released a primal scream, and continued on the path. Not exactly a yellow brick road, but a pilgrimage equally difficult, and just as uncertain.
About Richard Finegold:
RICHARD FINEGOLD is a product of the post-World War II generation, grew up in Massachusetts, started writing in high school, and continued into college taking creative writing classes at Cornell University during the turbulent ’60s. He graduated in 1967 with a degree in Political Science with a minor in English. In 1971 he received a law degree from Boston University and began practicing law in the San Diego area. He and his wife, Gail, have three children: Erin, Todd, and Jared. Richard now works only part time writing legal briefs and continues to ply his writing skills in fiction.
This giveaway is for the U.S. only and ends on August 3, 2012.Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
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