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Mar 07, 2015 Micki Peluso rated it really liked it

August 9th
By
Stu Schreiber

Author Stu Schreiber writes an unusual debut novel loosely based on personal experiences. Each chapter is a letter to Tess, from August 9th, 1970 through August 9th, 2014. Daniel never meets Tess, but catches sight of her during a Led Zeppelin rock and roll concert at the Anaheim Convention Center. Their eyes lock, just twice, but something special passes between them and for Daniel, it is an experience that changes his entire life. In a twist of luck or fate, he gets Te August 9th
By
Stu Schreiber

Author Stu Schreiber writes an unusual debut novel loosely based on personal experiences. Each chapter is a letter to Tess, from August 9th, 1970 through August 9th, 2014. Daniel never meets Tess, but catches sight of her during a Led Zeppelin rock and roll concert at the Anaheim Convention Center. Their eyes lock, just twice, but something special passes between them and for Daniel, it is an experience that changes his entire life. In a twist of luck or fate, he gets Tess’s address from a girl named Sheila, a friend of Tess’s, who gives Daniel the name of the College Tess attends.

And so each year, on the anniversary of that overpowering experience, Daniel writes one letter to Tess, describing his life, his hopes, his dreams. Maggie, his longtime girlfriend, later his wife, whom he loves and would never cheat on or betray, is Daniel's whole life. Yet Tess is also a part of him, the young woman who seemed to look so deeply into his soul. Throughout the story, his letters are never answered, but Daniel is compelled by the need to write them, hoping that they are read; hoping one day for an answering letter.

In his heart Daniel has a feeling they are being read or as he writes, he just chooses to believe it. As Daniel continues his letters, each one on August 9th, they read similar to a journal spanning the decades of his life. This narrative not only portrays his feelings, mistakes and joys of his life but also relates a wide range of Americana, as the author interweaves current events with Daniel’s own story. Sometimes it seems as if Tess is Daniel’s subconscious mind – the only outlet for his innermost thoughts and feelings. Daniel notes in one letter that he's no longer certain as to who is getting his letters, if anyone, yet he's compelled to write them from the age of 20 and into his later years.

Author Stu Schreiber takes readers through the turbulent 70s with the Vietnam War, the onset of terrorism in Iran, famous rock stars, Watergate, and the Reagan years, right up to the present, working them in naturally with an interesting writing style. He paints a picture of Daniel’s life and times so brilliantly that one feels almost a part of it. This first novel by the author is a quick, fast-paced read which moves steadily to an astounding, unexpected ending. Many readers living through those years with Daniel will have lived through much the same history even as he shares his life's loves, losses, and successes with Tess — once every August 9th.

Micki Peluso, author of . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang
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Apr 11, 2015 Sharon marked it as to-read

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