Freaking Forty-Four

What if your life did not take the usual course, restarting repeatedly at specific times in your past? What if Ken Grimwood's unparalleled novel, Replay, turned out to be reality? What would you do after your initial shock had somewhat subsided? What would you do after doing some of the obvious things you could do? Louis Sasportas, the main character of Freaking Forty-four, finds himself in such a predicament, leaping back into his past according to a precise timetable. Struggling to comprehend what is happening to him, he seeks some solace in the company of individuals who had marked our lives, including Charlie Chaplin, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Primo Levi, Carl Sagan and Douglas Adams, but ends up forever obsessed by the Shoah, setting out to avenge the six million Jews that were annihilated along with the progeny that could never come to be. Lulu Lavoix, his wife in most lives, other heartfelt partners, his parents and even Ken Grimwood, accompany him, most of them oftentimes unaware of his quests and in awe of his many skills. Using hard-nosed, comical, succinct narrative, spangled with epigrammatic digressions, the novel intimates a curious account, which should find some parallel in many a life. Readers will be interested by this novel; those not afraid to be shocked, mocked and challenged; those ready to be saddened and disappointed; those looking for bemusement coupled with existential angst; those tired of fleeting romanticism and religious dogma.