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