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What to expect

In the heyday of the 1970s underground, Bobby DeSoto and Mary Whittaker—passionate, idealistic, and in love—design a series of radical protests against the Vietnam War. When one action goes wrong, the course of their lives is forever changed. The two must erase their past, forge new identities, and never see each other again.

Now it is the 1990s. Mary lives in the suburbs with her fifteen-year-old son, who spends hours immersed in the music of his mother’s generation. She has no idea where Bobby is, whether he is alive or dead.

Shifting between the protests in the 1970s and the consequences of those choices in the 1990s, Dana Spiotta deftly explores the connection between the two eras—their language, technology, music, and activism. Character-driven and brilliant, this is an important and revelatory novel about the culture of rebellion, with particular resonance now.

Critics Review

Brims with such
energy and intelligence…Spiotta
has written a glorious sendup of contemporary social and ecological
activists with all their preening idealism and absurdity.”

New York Times Book Review

“Stunning…The staccato ferocity of a Joan Didion essay and the
historical resonance and razzle-dazzle language of…Don DeLillo.”

New York Times

“Infused with subtle wit…singularly powerful and provocative…Spiotta has a wonderful ironic sensibility, juxtaposing ’70s fervor with ’90s expediency.”

Boston Globe

“Scintillating…Spiotta creates a mesmerizing portrait of radicalism’s decline.”

Seattle Times
Author Dana Spiotta
Narrator Rachael Warren
Duration 9 hours and 8 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781620642092
Format Audiobook
Publisher Blackstone Publishing
Genre Family life fiction, Fiction: general and literary, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Politics
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

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