Joshua Safran
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From Hachette Book Group      

FREE SPIRIT: 
Growing Up On the Road and 

Off the Grid
“[A] BEAUTIFUL, POWERFUL MEMOIR. THIS ASSURED DEBUT IS REMINISCENT OF DAVID SEDARIS'S AND AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS'S BEST WORK: INTROSPECTIVE, HILARIOUS, AND HEARTBREAKING.”
                          - Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
“INSTANTLY CAPTIVATING, HEARTBREAKING, INSPIRING . . . [An] almost-too-crazy-to-be-true story. THIS BOOK IS NOTHING SHORT OF REMARKABLE.”
                          - Elle Magazine, READERS' PRIZE PICKS
“ENGAGING STORY AFTER STORY and a healthy dose of narrative tension throughout, SAFRAN ALL BUT TURNS THE PAGES FOR YOU.”
                        - San Francisco Chronicle RECOMMENDED BOOKS

“A REMARKABLE ACCOUNT of survival despite the odds.”
                          - Kirkus Reviews
“FREE SPIRIT IS PROBABLY THE MOST POWERFUL BOOK THAT I HAVE READ IN A DECADE.”
                           - Library at the End of the Universe

SAFRAN OFFERS UP THE WOUNDS OF A FLOWER CHILD, AND EVERY FRAYED PETAL IS ASTONISHINGLY BEAUTIFUL.”
                            - Gulf Stream
“TERRIFIC: a clear-eyed coming-of-age story.”
                            - San Jose Mercury News
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"Raised by a woman (Claudia, never mom, whose quest to flee modern society survived long after hippie idealism became passé), Safran spent the 1970s and 1980s in communes, cabins, and the occasional bus. The author didn’t regularly attend school until he was 11, when his bucolic upbringing made him a target for bullies. Adding to the misery was Claudia’s big heart and idealism, which allowed for a series of bad relationships, culminating in a tumultuous marriage to an alcoholic ex-Salvadoran revolutionary named Leopoldo. The young Safran can only sit helplessly as this sporadically employed thug regularly beats Claudia, apologizes, and starts the cycle anew. As he gets older, Safran recognizes that education is his way out—and that he can confront Leopoldo. Safran, an attorney, has written a beautiful, powerful memoir that shows how a son and his mother both grew up and survived amid chaos. Even better, he recalls events without condemnation or condescension. This assured debut is reminiscent of David Sedaris’s and Augusten Burroughs’s best work: introspective, hilarious, and heartbreaking."
                                - Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
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