Backward-Facing Man » (Bargain)

For ten years, Don Silver was the president of a manufacturing company in Philadelphia. In 1999, he left corporate America to become a full-time writer. This is his first novel.

Charlie Puckman, Jr., Lorraine Nadia, and Frederick Keane came of age in the late 1960s. Like that era, their lives were mysterious, idealistic, passionate, and romantic, even - but ultimately confused and, often, ineffectual. More than thirty years later, their youthful adventures continue to have ramifications: Charlie faces prosecution after an industrial accident at his family business, Lorraine's daughter is searching for the father she never knew, and Frederick has gone underground after his radical life has spiraled out of control.

Epic in scope and touching on such provocative issues as Patty Hearst and the SLA, crime and the possibility of redemption, and the search for self and life's meaning, Backward-Facing Man is a novel about choices and their lasting effects on people's lives, their families, and American society.

The New York Times - Janet Maslin

Mr. Silver's unusual perspective and wide range of material are enough to make this a memorably offbeat debut. So is the palpable struggle that he captures on the page. Far from being wispily nostalgic, Backward-Facing Man is still fighting to make sense of its characters' late-60's political conviction and wonder what became of it.