A Generic Life - Paperback

by Steven Rivera (Author)

A coming-of-age and picaresque story, with a continuum of knee-jerk humor and descriptive details, sees its way through the unpleasantness of abuse and not having any permanent roots or family. Readers follow the main character from childhood to adulthood as he is shifted from multiple homes and states. Throughout the character's journey, the persona he develops is born from innocence, natural-given talents, and his desires to make happiness exist.

Although the story begins with horrific abuse, the reader soon realizes that this is not the focus of the book but rather the beginning of a quest. The author's intent is for readers to question "What happened?" Some questions cannot be answered and remain a mystery. The coming-of-age and rite-of-passage events remind readers of their own stories to tell and compare.

A collage of images and feelings will take readers back to their childhood memories as they shadow the main character. The happiness, bitterness, and humor are fueled by extreme turning points and multiple changes of ideologies, cultures, and idiosyncrasies that molded the main character into a psychedelic hodgepodge of personality. Readers will take on all the emotional elements, experiences, and constant changes as they were happening. They uncover the answers and realizations of feeling alone and unwanted until they are warmed and tickled by the character's way of viewing the world. The title of the book and each chapter reflects the constant changes during the main character's life. The theme, style, and language are comparable to Angela's Ashes, A Child Called "It,", and I'm Nobody's Child. It is not a woe-is-me book. The detailed descriptions allow readers to feel the despair of what it is like being an anomaly but, more importantly, to enjoy and have fun learning about typical boy fantasies, thoughts, rationales, and the angst and anxieties of growing up.

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