My Cold War (Paperback)

Tom Piazza

ISBN 10: 0060533412 / ISBN 13: 9780060533410

Published by ReganBooks, New York, NY, 2004

About this Item

Paperback. A sharp, searching novel of an American son and the family he left behind from a writer of rare breadth and human insight. My Cold War is a critically acclaimed debut novel of extraordinary depth and range : the story of a man's alienation and attempts at reconnection with his family, and a rich exploration of the thorny implications of American popular culture. At its center is John Delano, a professor of Cold War Studies and successful mass-market historian a la Stephen Ambrose or Ken Burns. Raised by an awkward, embittered father and a frustrated mother in a Levittown-style suburb on Long Island, Delano has made a name for himself as a gimmicky interpreter of Cold War America, a controversial but popular repackager of events like the JFK assassination for those who lived through them without noticing. And yet, as the novel opens, Delano has reached an impasse: during a crisis of confidence, he shelves a major new book project in favor of a quest to drive to the Midwest and seek out his estranged younger brother. But when the trip ends in a sobering discovery that his brother has led a life of desperate transience, grasping at straws and scapegoats he undergoes an epiphany that propels him back to the newly sacred ground where he and his brother were raised. Long recognized as a writer of exceptional vision and unflinching candor, Tom Piazza has crafted a novel full of incident and argument, a book that speaks with depth and range about what it has meant to be American in our time. A sharp, searching novel of an American son and the family he left behind 埦rom a writer of rare breadth and human insight. "My Cold War" is a critically acclaimed debut novel of extraordinary depth and range: the story of a man's alienation and attempts at reconnection with his family, and a rich exploration of the thorny implications of American popular culture. At its center is John Delano, a professor of Cold War Studies and successful mass-market historian a la Stephen Ambrose or Ken Burns. Raised by an awkward, embittered father and a frustrated mother in a Levittown-style suburb on Long Island, Delano has made a name for himself as a gimmicky interpreter of Cold War America, a controversial but popular repackager of events like the JFK assassination for those who lived through them without noticing. And yet, as the novel opens, Delano has reached an impasse: during a crisis of confidence, he shelves a major new book project in favor of a quest to drive to the Midwest and seek out his estranged younger brother. But when the trip ends in a sobering discovery that his brother has led a life of desperate transience, grasping at straws and scapegoats 埨e undergoes an epiphany that propels him back to the newly sacred ground where he and his brother were raised. Long recognized as a writer of exceptional vision and unflinching candor, Tom Piazza has crafted a novel full of incident and argument, a book that speaks with depth and range about what it has meant to be American in our time. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780060533410

Bibliographic Details

• Title: My Cold War (Paperback)
• Publisher: ReganBooks, New York, NY
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060533412
• ISBN 13: 9780060533410
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A sharp, searching novel of an American son and the family he left behind 埦rom a writer of rare breadth and human insight.

My Cold War is a critically acclaimed debut novel of extraordinary depth and range : the story of a man's alienation and attempts at reconnection with his family, and a rich exploration of the thorny implications of American popular culture.

At its center is John Delano, a professor of Cold War Studies and successful mass–market historian a la Stephen Ambrose or Ken Burns. Raised by an awkward, embittered father and a frustrated mother in a Levittown–style suburb on Long Island, Delano has made a name for himself as a gimmicky interpreter of Cold War America, a controversial but popular repackager of events like the JFK assassination for those who lived through them without noticing.

And yet, as the novel opens, Delano has reached an impasse: during a crisis of confidence, he shelves a major new book project in favor of a quest to drive to the Midwest and seek out his estranged younger brother. But when the trip ends in a sobering discovery that his brother has led a life of desperate transience, grasping at straws and scapegoats 埨e undergoes an epiphany that propels him back to the newly sacred ground where he and his brother were raised.

Long recognized as a writer of exceptional vision and unflinching candor, Tom Piazza has crafted a novel full of incident and argument, a book that speaks with depth and range about what it has meant to be American in our time.

About the Author

Tom Piazza is the author of the novels City of Refuge and My Cold War, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, the essay collection Devil Sent the Rain, and many other works. He was a principal writer for the HBO drama series Treme and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues: A Musical Journey. He lives in New Orleans.