Freedman publishes Jewish boomer coming-of-age tale

By Deborah Moon

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Building on his play “40 Years in the Desert: A Bar Mitzvah Tale,” Portland author Robert Freedman has written an honest story of a Jewish boy coming of age in the carefree late 1950s and tumultuous 1960s.

While “Fancypants: An Autobiographical Novel” occasionally strays from the literal truth, Freedman said his intent was to make it “as emotionally honest as possible.” With an alter-ego like Buddy who has closed down his emotions, Freedman, 63, said that was often difficult.

“Buddy is a shut-down guy,” Freedman said in an interview with the Jewish Review. “So to still convey real honesty of situations, sometimes the reader has to look beneath what Buddy says to what he actually feels.”

Freedman said the book is more novel than memoir in that it is told from the point of view of the character at each age rather than as an adult looking back. The technique works well, from the carefree summer days of neighborhood children playing outside all day through the angst-laden search for direction and love in college.

As one of his early readers, Freedman’s younger daughter was filled with questions about the choices he made.

“What came clear for me when I was writing was how stupid I was,” said Freedman. “People have told me it’s (the book) made them think about their own childhood and being 20 and doing the things you do without thinking and how much that ends up impacting your life.”

The book traces Freedman’s estrangement from Judaism following his bar mitzvah to getting married in a church. The book ends long before his resurgent interest in Judaism.

“Unfortunately, my early experience of Judaism did end up driving me away from something I felt drawn to,” said Freedman, whose alter ego declares his intention to become a rabbi during his early bar mitzvah training. “The whole experience with the bar mitzvah and my parents calling themselves Jews but never practicing left me feeling there was too much hypocrisy.”

“I was in my 50s before I could come back and appreciate the beauty of the religion—of the essential teachings,” he said.

He said his play, “40 Years in the Desert,” which was staged at So and So Theater and Neveh Shalom about four years ago, coincided with his resurgent interest in Judaism. He graduated from the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, which provides adult Jewish literacy in a two-year program, and joined Havurah Shalom.

“I finally married a Jewish woman,” he added, noting he married former Multnomah County Chair Beverly Stein in 2003.

Formerly an English or writing teacher at Jesuit High School, Valley Catholic High School, Clark College and the University of Portland, Freedman now devotes himself full time to writing and traveling with his wife. He is currently reworking a play called “Cravings,” which had a staged reading at Performance Works Northwest in October 2007.

“Fancypants” is available at Broadway Books, Annie Bloom’s Books, Wallace Books and Looking Glass Bookstore. It is available on line from the publisher lulu.com or at Amazon.com and Borders.com.

Robert Freedman will read from his autobiographical novel, “Fancypants," 7 p.m., May 20, at Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broaddway St. 503-284-1726.