The Patience of Rivers

It's been a while since I've read a book that I've so thoroughly enjoyed. Mr. Freda gives us a real river cruise as he extends the metaphor beautifully. His style of writing is lucid, striking, to the point, and certainly no nonsense.Certainly, this is a "coming of age" story and rather brilliantly done. I understand the author is a product of the Defense Department's overseas schools (he graduated from Kubasaki High School in Okinawa in the late '60s). I happened to be a young marine stationed on Okinawa at the time, personally nervous about Viet Nam (as most of us were) and when I picked up "Patience of Rivers" I felt the author had more than represented an era, of course. His book transcends a single concept. This is Mr. Freda's second novel (I've also read his "Suburban Guerillas" and it's also great!) and I can hardly wait for the next one.

I was there! Not really, but I feel like I was. The author's feel for this era transported me from dusty West Texas to the foggy, wet Delaware River Valley. I was a little older than Nick, the main character in the book when Woodstock happened, but whispers of it ran through our tight-knit farming community like wind through the corn tassles. We wanted to be there. So the first week in August, 1969, 3 of my friends and I convinced a long-haul trucker to take us "east"! We ended up near New York City, hot, hungry and dirty with no earthly idea how to get to "Woodstock." But the freaks knew. They pointed us north, and with thumbs out, battered cowboy hats and boots and dirty bandannas, we headed for our life-changing experience. Read this book, Buy this book, love this book, share it with everyone you know over 48! We were ALL there in spirit. We all wanted "out"! We all wanted "in"! We none of us wanted to go to Vietnam but I did. And I took memories of Woodstock with me. Now with this book, the memories of how free and easy it was back then, when all we had to decide was what to eat for supper, where to go dancin' and who to sidle up to was foremost in our innocent minds.Thank you Joseph Freda, for putting it all into focus for me and for taking me back to a better time and place.-Scott Johnson

Nick is a young man I knew well! I recall those days of the summer of '69 much as Mr. Freda does, although I wasn't having to worry about being drafted. But I knew plenty of local boys who were worried--nightmare stories from Viet Nam were already coming through even then.This is a true coming of age story and the author does well in capturing these moments. He transcends this mere label, though, as he not only captures the time, the essence of that situation, but of Every Boy, it seems, of not only that time, but any time of crisis.Freda's style of writing is lucid, warm, well-paced. This is a book I've enjoyed reading. It deserves all the praise it's getting.

This is a great story about life in the Delaware River valley. Joe Freda captures the sheer beauty of the area and shares that magic with his readers. I loved the twists and turns that the plot takes and stayed in suspense, never knowing where this warm and enchanting tale would end up. I give 6 stars out of 5!

You don't have to live in upstate New York to appreciate this coming-of-age story. Takes me back to 1969, carefree days, when all we had to worry about was who was gonna supply the pot, who was gonna be the next conquest (no AIDS to worry about), and best of all, no risk of terrorist attacks... Vietnam weighed heavily on everyone's minds, but it was a world away. Woodstock became our anthem. I'll let my kids read this to understand my formative years.