Cusp spans a one-year time frame, from July Fourth 1975 through the Bicentennial. The book's chapter titles are taken from song titles and lyrics of the era.
Chapter 1 One of These Nights
Chapter 2 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love
Chapter 3 Could This Be the Magic at Last?
Chapter 4 I Think of You
Chapter 5 Summer Madness
Chapter 6 The Solid Time of Change
Chapter 7 Feelings
Chapter 8 Why Can’t We Be Friends?
Chapter 9 Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
Chapter 10 You Haven't Done Nothin’
Chapter 11 Our Day Will Come
Chapter 12 He’s My Man
Chapter 13 Year of Decision
Chapter 14 I Had No Reason to Be Overoptimistic
Chapter 15 There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Chapter 16 Leave Me As You Found Me, Empty Like Before
Chapter 17 Shame, Shame, Shame
Chapter 18 I Have Been Removed
Chapter 19 I Wouldn’t Change a Thing
Chapter 20 I Don't Know a Soul Who's Not Been Battered
by Laura Huntt Foti
The Soundtrack of the '70s
Friday, March 23, 2012
Chapter 1: One of These Nights
July Fourth 1975
With the windows down, I forget about my broken air conditioner, until I careen to a stop at the bottom of Old White Plains Road’s rocky curves. That’s when the heat thuds into my baby blue 1967 Oldsmobile, instantly gluing my hair to my neck. Crap, I forgot to bring a rubber band.
I turn up the music to keep my mind off the temperature. At traffic lights, my radio joins with others, all of us synchronized. If our songs clash, a punch or two of the radio buttons and I can find whatever they’re playing. Tunes surge and fade with the heat and breeze. “Love Will Keep Us Together.” “Philadelphia Freedom.” Oh good, my current favorite, “One of These Nights.”
Heading toward my summer job at Playland, I navigate barefoot, Kork-Ease sandals by the door, right foot toggling between accelerator and brake. Passing Hess Gas, I merge onto 95 North, then the leafy Playland Parkway in Rye, singing along to the radio the whole way, dropping my voice at red lights.
I’m in a great mood, which used to be rare but now happens regularly. After only a couple of weeks at Playland I feel like I’m on the cusp of everything. I sense a total shift in my life, my demons scattering, my desires about to be fulfilled, the promise of normalcy ahead. This feeling should last right up until I arrive back at my driveway. But that’s hours away. For now I block out the thought of home and focus on my new life on the outside.
With the windows down, I forget about my broken air conditioner, until I careen to a stop at the bottom of Old White Plains Road’s rocky curves. That’s when the heat thuds into my baby blue 1967 Oldsmobile, instantly gluing my hair to my neck. Crap, I forgot to bring a rubber band.
I turn up the music to keep my mind off the temperature. At traffic lights, my radio joins with others, all of us synchronized. If our songs clash, a punch or two of the radio buttons and I can find whatever they’re playing. Tunes surge and fade with the heat and breeze. “Love Will Keep Us Together.” “Philadelphia Freedom.” Oh good, my current favorite, “One of These Nights.”
Heading toward my summer job at Playland, I navigate barefoot, Kork-Ease sandals by the door, right foot toggling between accelerator and brake. Passing Hess Gas, I merge onto 95 North, then the leafy Playland Parkway in Rye, singing along to the radio the whole way, dropping my voice at red lights.
I’m in a great mood, which used to be rare but now happens regularly. After only a couple of weeks at Playland I feel like I’m on the cusp of everything. I sense a total shift in my life, my demons scattering, my desires about to be fulfilled, the promise of normalcy ahead. This feeling should last right up until I arrive back at my driveway. But that’s hours away. For now I block out the thought of home and focus on my new life on the outside.
Monday, March 19, 2012
On the Cusp...
The Cusp of Everything is getting ready for release! Watch this space for details.
In the mid-‘70s, post-high school life combined the usual growing pains with massive societal changes. Karen Walsh, 17 and on the cusp of everything, must navigate financial, family and especially romantic obstacles as she moves slowly toward her goal of breaking away from suburban Westchester County and moving to Manhattan for college - all to a soundtrack of some of the greatest music ever. She finds in Mark Cassone a kindred spirit…and possibly more.
In the mid-‘70s, post-high school life combined the usual growing pains with massive societal changes. Karen Walsh, 17 and on the cusp of everything, must navigate financial, family and especially romantic obstacles as she moves slowly toward her goal of breaking away from suburban Westchester County and moving to Manhattan for college - all to a soundtrack of some of the greatest music ever. She finds in Mark Cassone a kindred spirit…and possibly more.
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