It’s 1966, young Heywood Gould, has his dream job as reporter at the ultra liberal (that’s right liberal) New York Post, alongside young writers like Nora Ephron, Pete Hamill, and Anthony Scaduto.
Then he gets that fateful letter that begins, “Greetings.” He’s been caught in the Vietnam draft.
Now he is torn between his hatred of the war and his loyalty to his intensely patriotic family, Jewish immigrants who credit America with saving their lives, all of whom served in World War II.
In this comic memoir of his early life, screenwriter, director, and novelist, Gould cuts back and forth between vivid scenes of childhood and coming of age in New York City in the ’60s. Fighting antisemitic bullies in the neighborhood, hustling the chess hustlers in Washington Square Park, collecting corpses for a Brooklyn Jewish funeral home.
Possessed of uncanny recall for details, an unparalleled ear for dialogue, and disarming candor about his foibles, young Heywood is great company. Readers will be treated to a ride to another era, not so terribly long ago.
Nonfiction
Drafted, A Memoir of the ’60’s
- From the Publisher
September 1, 2020
Discussion Questions
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