My grandfather dies while I’m still on the boat. They don’t
dock for anything—not illness, injury, or death will change their course once
the season begins. Each morning, while the rest of the crew huddles
around the coffeemaker and grouses to life with a first cigarette, I lie in my
cot, reading the letter as we float out alongCook Inlet .
My mother worries about who will hold our family together for the Jewish
holidays now that my grandfather is gone.
dock for anything—not illness, injury, or death will change their course once
the season begins. Each morning, while the rest of the crew huddles
around the coffeemaker and grouses to life with a first cigarette, I lie in my
cot, reading the letter as we float out along
My mother worries about who will hold our family together for the Jewish
holidays now that my grandfather is gone.
His sudden death creates a hole in my chest that continually caves in. After
betrayal, it doesn’t hold solid. My grandfather’s death piled on top makes it
unbearable. Until the letter arrives, I’m planning to find work on the Alaskan
Pipeline in the
“They feed you real good,” he says. “T-bone steak’s the best medicine for a
broken heart.” (The Bohemian Love Diaries by Slash Coleman)
Infused with southern charm, this irresistibly weird and wonderful story
chronicles Slash Coleman’s upbringing in a warped but warm-hearted household of
eccentric artists. Descended from a posse of off-beat immigrants–including a
grandfather who danced at the Moulin Rouge–and raised near the capital of the
Confederacy during the 1970s and ’80s, young Slash sets out to find true love.
Unfortunately, he’s his own worst enemy. Obsessions with Evel Knievel, rock
band KISS, and crisscrossing the country to find the girl of his dreams set his
quest for happiness on a hapless course.
Hilarious and profound, Coleman slowly comes to terms with his father, a genius
sculptor and volatile alcoholic, and his mother, a Holocaust survivor who makes
him promise never to reveal that he’s Jewish. A touching portrait emerges of a
young artist whose passionate spirit refuses to be suppressed. A swift kick to
the funny bone, The Bohemian Love Diaries and its laugh-out-loud perversity
conjure Jonathan Ames and Augusten Burroughs with a tender edge, revealing what
might have happened if John Hodgman raised Holden Caulfield in Chuck Palahniuk’s
attic. It will leave you howling.
“Slash Coleman has de-gentrified my soul.”
—GARY SHTEYNGART, New York Times–bestselling author of Super Sad True Love
Story
“Flashes of humor and thoughtful introspection; an entertaining examination of
the plight of an artist’s progeny.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A fun, raucous read by a fantastic storyteller.”
—MISHNA WOLFF, bestselling author of I’m Down
“A beautiful life of a free spirit who navigates through life with his heart.”
—OPHIRA EISENBERG, host of NPR’s Ask Me Another/author of Screw Everyone
“It’s hard to get stranger than the Sedarises, but Coleman’s family could
give them a run for their money.” —Backstage magazine
Slash Coleman wrote, produced, and starred in the PBS Special The Neon Man and
Me, which also won the United Solo Award for best drama. The personal
perspectives blogger for Psychology Today, an advice columnist known as Uncle
Slash at howdoidate.com,
and a regular contributor to Storytelling magazine, he appeared on the NPR
series How Artists Make Money and is creating The New American Storyteller for
PBS. Originally from
he lived in
now lives in
by Lyons Press, the hard back was released on July 16, 2013 and is
available as an ebook and audio book (narrated by the author) through Audible.
Author website – http://www.slashcoleman.com
Hardcover purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Bohemian-Love-Diaries-Memoir/dp/0762786981
Ebook purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Bohemian-Love-Diaries-Memoir/dp/0762786981
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