Ken La Salle is an amazing author that dips his feet into many genres.
I have enjoyed everything I have read by him, so to get a glimpse into what makes him tick is an opportunity I can’t pass up.
Are you ready to take a blast to the past…The 1970’s coming up.
Normally I am getting lost in make believe, but now and then I feel a need to gain insight into the real world, and to learn more about an author that I enjoy is an opportunity I can’t pass up.
I have read several of Ken La Salle’s wonderful, wacky and creepy books, so to learn where all that talent came from is something I was more than happy to do.
A box of memories started this journey.
“It was the hippest of times. It was the funkiest of times. It was the 1970s.”
What would your box of memories hold?
In False Starts, Ken La Salle shares his life during the 70s. Do you remember what you were doing?
His talk of TV and music strikes home to me. A lot of people think the 60s was a time of change, but the 70s brought so many more options for our viewing and listening pleasure. Do you remember Hot Wheels, 45s, or the Smother’s Brothers, who were only on one season because they were too disrespectful?
Ken La Salle grew up poor with his mom and siblings. I cannot understand from personal experience the lack of enough food, going hungry and no clothes to wear. It wasn’t like I had a lot, but I had what was needed and an occasional goodie or two.
It’s hard to feel sad for Ken when I was reading the book, because of his writing style. Is it a positive spin he puts on it or is it his drive to find what he was good at, what would work for him and make his life a good one. I find myself nodding and smiling as I read along sharing similar memories.
He finds those moments of light and happiness that shine through the darkness.
I thoroughly enjoyed this trip down memory lane and getting to know an author I plan on following for a long time. I think it is because of his upbringing that he is able to write so well in very different genres with his humorous bent shining through the written words.
As long as you are moving forward in life, it can appear to you as though it were a series of False Starts.
I can only imagine what fun it would be to listen to this in as an audiobook., which is available.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of False Starts from Ken La Salle.
4 Stars
Memories…Some things I was familiar with, others not so much. How about you?
GOODREADS BLURB: I recently opened up my chest of childhood memories, faced a decade I had long since forgotten, and wrote these words:
“It was the hippest of times. It was the funkiest of times. It was the 1970s.”
And I grew up right there in the middle of it. I won talent shows. I went to camp. I fought the school bully for the honor of the girl I loved. I lost my father…
But having just turned 50, I decided the time had come to take an honest look at those years without the tinted lens of nostalgia, which allowed me to remember so much more. I never told the girl I defended that I loved her. I barely survived camp. No amount of talent show victories brought my father back and, to be honest, my memories weren’t as accurate as I thought they were.
The 70’s were a swirling minefield filled with a family destroyed by poverty and divorce, horrible TV shows, bad disco on AM radio, wretched food… and the only saving grace a child like me had was Pong. My teachers tried to put me on drugs. My sister taught me the art of shoplifting. My best friend was Burp Boy. Life was a series of constant set-backs, a barrage of defeats, embarrassments, and false starts.
And I wouldn’t change a thing.
ABOUT KEN LA SALLE (From Amazon)
Author and Playwright, Ken La Salle grew up in Santa Ana, California and has remained in the surrounding area his entire life. He was raised with strong, blue collar roots, which have given him a progressive and environmentalist view. As a result, you’ll find many of his stories touching those areas both geographically and philosophically. His passion is intense humor, meaningful drama, and finding answers to the questions that define our lives.
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