Weaving the author's coming of age in 1980s New York with his life as a father today, this Nick Hornby–meets–Cheryl Strayed debut memoir examines father-son relationships, the pain of early parent loss, and the importance of embracing your passions.
For nearly fifteen years, Matt Fogelson didn't recognize how deeply the early death of his workaholic father had affected him. Then he had a son of his own and the floodgates opened, helping him realize that even deeper than the wound left by his father's death were the wounds inflicted by his absence while alive.
Restrung follows Fogelson from his beginnings as a music-loving kid combing through vinyl in Greenwich Village, through his struggles to overcome his grief during young adulthood, and into becoming a man who is startled by the reemergence of his long-suppressed passion for music after becoming a father. Told with humor, grief, and hope, it's the story of a passionate music lover's effort to break free of the real and imagined constraints standing between him and his best life-an effort that ultimately allows Fogelson's son to know his father in a way Fogelson never knew his.
Funny and deeply honest, Restrung is a balm for every father and son fortunate enough to still have each other in their lives. It will inspire listeners to try to cross the emotional gulf that seems almost endemic to the father-son relationship and finally break through to one another. Oakland California 2005
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Oakland California 2009
Acknowledgments
About the Author
"A memoir of growing up, loss, and the expressive power of rock music…Readers, especially Gen Xers who turn to music for connection and expression, will savor this book."
"Rich in heart and musical soul, Restrung is a moving call to reimagine fatherhood in a new key-one that sings instead of stifles. A joy to read, the viscerality of music in Fogelson's life is a compass we can all use for navigation."
"A compelling memoir of a young urban music fan diving headlong into the passion and pathos of rock 'n' roll."
" Written with emotional exactitude and soulful narrative precision, Restrung is a deeply affecting, cross-generational book about fatherhood and loss, but it's also about how music is the connective tissue that binds us all together…An engaging memoir about fathers, sons and how the things we never say are louder than the things we hear, this is powerful and unreasonably brilliant work."
