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Matt Duffy is in crisis. His son, Jack, is a high school bully who attempts suicide after Matt snuffs out a fast-moving teen romance. Outwardly, Matt is fine, but inside he is filled with guilt and resentment. Matt reluctantly agrees to see a psychiatrist who pushes him to explore his fractious parenting and his own bullying past. The end result is a collection of Matt’s most important, outrageous, macabre, and indelible memories.
A Thinking Man’s Bully locks readers into Matt’s head as he romps with hell-raising buddies, bumbles in and out of teen romances, and attempts to manage a combustible relationship with his supposed best friend, who died by his own hand. It all serves to make it easy to remember bullies like Matt, Jack, and some of Matt’s friends as fearsome people to be avoided.
Within this debut novel, readers are sent back to high school to relive both their insecurities and recall the allure of the bad-ass and the mean-spirited laughter that comes too easily at the expense of others. Adelberg also hop-scotches the last 30 years of American pop culture with cutting wit. An eclectic mix of the famous and infamous—including Brittany Spears, Lou Reed, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and O.J.—are lined up for roasting. Nor does he resist skewering an array of contemporary America’s sacred cows and sensitive topics: racism, sexism, homophobia, class bias, ageism, mental disability, and, of course, bullying.
Ultimately, we are witness to the profound struggle of an aging bully who is not quite lost, but far from redeemed; a soul pitted against the growing realization that he has transferred his worst demons to his son.
MICHAEL ADELBERG is a (mostly) reformed high school troublemaker and the father of three boys. He is a health policy wonk and author of numerous historical publications, including the recently-published Theatre of Spoil and Destruction. His demographic approach to historical research has been the subject of articles in leading journals such as the Wilson Quarterly and the Journal of Military History. He holds masters degrees in History and Public Policy, has received numerous professional honors for his health policy and history work, and is a literary fiction reviewer for the New York Journal of Books.
"The 190 pages of this book race past, each short story complete, each analysis intriguing and revealing, each twist in the plot perfectly timed. I couldn’t put it down and recommend it highly—a uniquely structured novel whose arrangement perfectly fits its tale." - Sheila Deeth, Cafe Libri
"The material in A Thinking Man's Bully is certainly heavy, but it's leavened with deadpan humor and wry observations that make for a highly engaging, bittersweet read, not unlike paging through an old yearbook or a family photo album. Additionally, Adelberg's straightforward prose works the minor miracle of balancing bluntness and nuance as he examines difficult and complex issues throughout the proceedings. All told, A Thinking Man's Bully is a superb debut." - Small Press Reviews
"The author, a reformed high school troublemaker, offers a fresh perspective on bullying by seamlessly intertwining the actions, the results, and the lasting consequences of brutality into a story brimming with personality and narrative brio." - Publisher's Weekly
Price: $26.00
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