BOOK RELEASE
From Hiroshima to Abu Ghraib, the rocket fast narrative of Nick Masesso JR’s new book "Walking the
Midway in Purgatory": A Journal, takes us from the streets of 1950’s Chicago to early modern
American commune living populated with underworld & counterculture street heroes. From the
assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK to Kent State, Masesso lends perspective to these events and their
impact on America. In successive chapters we travel to the Narco State that is Columbia, SA and his
observations on the fall of Apartheid in racist South Africa from the inside of it's most notorious maximum
security prison. We also glimpse the last throes of Portuguese colonial rule in Mozambique.
"Walking the Midway in Purgatory: A Journal" written by Oakland, CA resident and first time author Nick Masesso Jr. is now available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and through all American
bookstores and through bookstores in a dozen European countries. The non-fiction travel journal and
political tome spans 40 years and 3 continents. There are several items of Bay Area significance and
interest chronicled. Masesso gives proximity to and narrative for, the murder of David Nadel, the White
Night Riots, both after the Milk & Moscone killings and after the Dan White acquittal, as well as the
Peoples Temple episode. The book also offers a view of what America was and what it has become
with small stories and portraits of experiences with characters striving to create a life apart from
mainstream values.
Reviews @ amazon.com
September 11, 2001 looks a lot like December 7, 1941
The premise of Masesso’s tome "Walking the Midway in Purgatory: A Journal" is the fact of this similarity. His theorem is that we can unravel today’s confusing world affairs and America’s participation by looking to the 1960’s, the decade that was murdered in its sleep, for our redemption. The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor looks a lot likes the sneak attack on the Twin Tower, the horror of 911. The World War that raged for four years afterwards, the bloodiest and most destructive in history, looks a lot like the open-ended War on Terror. The Second World War influenced the work of Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac, J.D. Salinger and others, profoundly effecting 20th century literature. Masesso thinks that a new generation of thinkers and writers will emerge to take us in a new direction as a result of our new obscene conflict. With his personal, social and political examination of America both then and now he has staked his claim as one of those voices hoping to lead us out of the wilderness.
Book Review at Amazon from Reinhold Ziegler
To all the kids that grew up in 50's and 60's...To those who were told by their parents and teachers that
they had more opportunities available to them than any other generation in history...To the Kennedy
generation that was asked what they could do for their country and not what their country could do for
them...To the idealists who took these statements seriously and marched in the streets for civil rights...To
the Vietnam veterans who fought in a foreign land and gave their life for democracy and freedom...To all
those who felt that we had been betrayed by the adults...Walking the Midway in Purgatory is your
story. It is a remarkable journey and it will draw you into the heart of the action. This journal makes you
realize that you are a witness and a participant of the times that you live in, that life in America is not just a
wienie-roast or a spectator sport. As Mr. Masesso's first book it is a five star performer and a probable
screen play. I look forward to other writings from this author.
Nick Masesso Jr.
nick@modularbuildings.biz
Original: Book Release