First published 2013
Samuel Lumen sits at his desk, nearly ninety years old, writing in his diary as younger activists prepare a grand banquet in his honor. The liberal causes he championed as a firebrand have shaped American politics, though not always in ways he recognizes or approves. His followers want to celebrate his fearless advocacy that reached millions, but Lumen questions whether he wants to celebrate them back. Through his diary entries, he revisits a lifetime of political battles, examining his achievements alongside his disappointments. The costs of his restless radicalism weigh on him as memory and nostalgia blur together. Lumen must decide how to face this tribute while grappling with what his legacy has become in the hands of those who claim to carry his torch.
Genres: american-fiction, contemporary, biographical-fiction, activism
Vibes: intimate, reflective, thought-provoking
Tropes: nostalgia, unreliable-narrator
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
364 pages · Kindle Edition · Open Road Media