Two Ways West

""A father/a son, east coast/west coast. Two stories making one. The first text is a Jewish American tragicomedy, about the rise and fall of a New Jersey caterer and restaurant owner who develops a gambling sickness leading him to break with family members and leave his business and hometown on a one-way trip to L.A. The second text is a coming-of-age story, depicting the son's trip west, his decision to stay and the effects of his decision on family, friends and his own life. Presenting New Jersey Jewish life plus failed love affairs and sexual encounters, this book represents countless Jewish Americans and others who moved west in the 1950s and 60s, while it includes portrayals of L.A. and San Francisco Bay area cultural and university worlds, featuring an "on the road" story from Berkeley to a Mexican border town. It is a book filled with unforgettable characters, incidents, and insights that evoke a past period and project readers to our living present." Reviewer, Chicago World.

   

A key part of Marc Zimmerman's overall project of "memoir fiction"-a series of volumes drawing on memories and imaginings telling the stories from his birth to his last days-Two Ways West (Exodus) is sequel to Genesis and a prequel to No Light from Heaven; but it is nevertheless a book with its own unity and force including perhaps his best short novel and a poignant story of heartbreak and recovery as well as a portrayal aspects of Italian and African American California life.



Cover art: Diana Solís



Author and editor of over forty books. Marc Zimmerman holds an M.A. in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He more academic writings includes books on Central American, Caribbean, Mexican and U.S. Latino themes, Other books in his memoir fiction series include Black, Brown and White on the Border, Managua Mon Amour (Nevermore), The Italian Daze, and A Mexican Maze without Borders.