The Perennial Freshman by George Whiteman

Description

The most entertainingly disastrous childhood you’ll ever read about. George Whiteman’s “ever-so-slightly skewed autobiography” opens with poor little two-year-old Georgie, born to parents “unfit to raise gerbils” — then dumped on his loving nana, snatched back at nine, and dragged across all forty-eight states. When Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, his folks teeter between divorce and double-homicide — and abandon him again, this time in Hollywood, hedonistic center of the cosmos.

What follows is dirt-poor puberty amid every form of vice and device, told with humor, pathos, and unforgettable vividness. Whiteman turns calamity into comedy without ever losing the ache underneath. Whiteman’s comic timing is impeccable — every disaster lands, and every small kindness glows.

Darkly hilarious and surprisingly tender. For memoir readers who like their truth stranger than fiction. Darkly hilarious, surprisingly tender, and unlike any memoir you’ve read.

Poor little two-year-old Georgie. In The Perennial Freshman, George Whiteman begins his “ever-so-slightly skewed autobiography” with a childhood worthy of a B-movie classic — and tells it with humor, pathos, and unforgettable vividness.

Born to parents “unfit to raise gerbils,” young Georgie is dumped on his loving nana, then snatched back at nine and dragged across all forty-eight states. When Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, his folks teeter between divorce and double-homicide — and abandon him once again, this time with relatives in the hedonistic center of the cosmos: Hollywood.

There, amidst every form of vice and device, he trudges through dirt-poor puberty into a despotic adulthood, living in storage rooms, cellars, and shacks alongside a seedy cast of characters. Eager to escape his squalid past, George answers the call to defend the American Way; two years as a military conscript — “three hots and a cot” — awaken in him an overwhelming drive to make something of his life.

The first part of a three-part autobiography, The Perennial Freshman is a stunning coming-of-age memoir that readers of all generations will love for its humor, its heart, and its vivid reminders of times gone by.