What do you think?
Rate this book
Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid
An Unforgettable Journey Through an Unconventional Childhood
When Joshua Safran was four years old, his mother--determined to protect him from the threats of nuclear war and Ronald Reagan--took to the open road with her young son, leaving the San Francisco countercultural scene behind. Together they embarked on a journey to find a utopia they could call home. InFree Spirit, Safran tells the harrowing, yet wryly funny story of his childhood chasing this perfect life off the grid--and how they survived the imperfect one they found instead.
Encountering a cast of strange and humorous characters along the way, Joshua spends his early years living in a series of makeshift homes, including shacks, teepees, buses, and a lean-to on a stump. His colorful youth darkens, however, when his mother marries an alcoholic and abusive guerrilla/poet.
Throughout it all, Joshua yearns for a "normal" life, but when he finally reenters society through school, he finds "America" a difficult and confusing place. Years spent living in the wilderness and discussing Marxism have not prepared him for the Darwinian world of teenagers, and he finds himself bullied and beaten by classmates who don't share his mother's belief about reveling in one's differences.
Eventually, Joshua finds the strength to fight back against his tormentors, both in school and at home, and helps his mother find peace. But Free Spirit is more than just a coming-of-age story. It is also a journey of the spirit, as he reconnects with his Jewish roots; a tale of overcoming adversity; and a captivating read about a childhood unlike any other.
When Joshua Safran was four years old, his mother--determined to protect him from the threats of nuclear war and Ronald Reagan--took to the open road with her young son, leaving the San Francisco countercultural scene behind. Together they embarked on a journey to find a utopia they could call home. InFree Spirit, Safran tells the harrowing, yet wryly funny story of his childhood chasing this perfect life off the grid--and how they survived the imperfect one they found instead.
Encountering a cast of strange and humorous characters along the way, Joshua spends his early years living in a series of makeshift homes, including shacks, teepees, buses, and a lean-to on a stump. His colorful youth darkens, however, when his mother marries an alcoholic and abusive guerrilla/poet.
Throughout it all, Joshua yearns for a "normal" life, but when he finally reenters society through school, he finds "America" a difficult and confusing place. Years spent living in the wilderness and discussing Marxism have not prepared him for the Darwinian world of teenagers, and he finds himself bullied and beaten by classmates who don't share his mother's belief about reveling in one's differences.
Eventually, Joshua finds the strength to fight back against his tormentors, both in school and at home, and helps his mother find peace. But Free Spirit is more than just a coming-of-age story. It is also a journey of the spirit, as he reconnects with his Jewish roots; a tale of overcoming adversity; and a captivating read about a childhood unlike any other.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
34 people are currently reading
1245 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Safran
5 books26 followersJOSHUA SAFRAN (b. 1975) is an author, attorney, speaker, and occasional rabbi, and was featured in the award-winning documentary CRIME AFTER CRIME, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and had its television debut as part of The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)’s Documentary Film Club. He is a nationally recognized champion for women’s rights and a zealous advocate for survivors of domestic violence and the wrongfully imprisoned. For his work, he has received national media coverage and numerous awards.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
dnf
December 31, 2017DNF @15% sorry Dad, just don’t have time for boring.
I promised my dad I would read this book this year. The countdown is on.
I promised my dad I would read this book this year. The countdown is on.
December 10, 2013
Free Spirit: Growing up on the Road and Off the Grid by Joshua Safran, 2013, Hyperion, Hardcover, 272 pp, $24.95
Joshua Safran’s memoir, Free Spirit: Growing up on the Road and off the Grid begins with a wild ride up the side of Cultus Mountain in Skagit County, Washington. Safran’s stepfather, Leopoldo, a Salvadoran guerilla fighter who is drunk, angry, and erratic, is at the wheel screaming about CIA surveillance. Safran’s mother, Claudia has finally been shaken out of a meditation focused on channeling blue universal energy to surround and protect them from harm. Within the first page, Safran has established that as terrifying as this ride might seem to the reader, for him, “Fear was commonplace, part of the will you kidnap me or won’t you calculation inherent in every hitched ride.”
The journey on which Safran takes the reader is filled with terrifying situations and bizarre characters. His idealistic but clueless mother leaves the relative calm of post-hippie-heyday San Francisco with her four-year-old son and embarks on a quest to find a utopian community outside the influence of mainstream Reagan-era America. Instead of utopia, Safran finds himself living in teepees, a rusty old ice cream truck, a lean-to built on a stump, and a series of shacks, often without electricity or running water. At one point in the memoir, Claudia and the author take to the road with the Rainbow Family, a loosely connected band of hippies who hold gatherings in national forests. When Claudia settles down and marries Leopoldo, the home Safran finds is not idyllic, but dark and filled with abuse at the hands of his stepfather and school-aged bullies, who torment him for being different.
Safran’s memoir is painful and poignant as one would expect of a story filled with abject poverty and domestic violence, but the darkness is balanced with moments of hilarity. Much of the humor comes from the juxtaposition of counter-culture ideology and Safran’s struggle to thrive in an America that is alien to him. The book is peppered with references to larger events in the country and their impact on Safran. For example, the trajectory of his life is set in motion by the Fall of Saigon, and his mother’s disillusionment with a country that has not, as she expected it would, reformed at the close of the Vietnam conflict. When Claudia becomes involved with anti-nuclear protests after a power plant on the other side of the country melts down, Safran writes, “Three Mile Island ruined my preschool graduation.”
Free Spirit is remarkable primarily because of the candor with which Safran tells his story. He doesn’t portray himself as a hero. He struggles throughout the book with how powerless he is to protect not only his mother, but also himself from abuse. When Leopoldo attacks Claudia for imagined infidelities, Safran does not initially try to rescue her. Instead, he hides in his sleeping berth in the loft of the cabin they live in, and listens as his mother is beaten. When he finally convinces his mother to enroll him in public school, Safran is beaten and ostracized by a female bully at the bus stop. Safran’s willingness to express helplessness and vulnerability strengthens the impact of the narrative and gives the reader a deeper understanding of the dysfunctional dynamics of domestic abuse.
The final chapter of the book works as an epilogue. There, the reader sees an adult Safran, more capable of advocating for domestic abuse victims in his work as an attorney.
One concern many memoirists grapple with is the limitation of memory, especially during the first five or so years of life. We don’t carry as clear a recollection of early childhood as we do of later stages of development. Some memoirists choose to recreate dialogue and scene, and allow their imaginations to fill in the blank spaces our minds cannot recall. Safran’s account of his early childhood is vivid and detailed, and obviously recreated, but I was able to accept it as true, because he explains in the epilogue and acknowledgements that he researched those years with the help of his mother and other adults who did possess a clearer recollection of events.
Free Spirit is not an easy book to read because it is so vividly rendered and painful, but it is well-written, often poetic, and compelling, and offers the reader important insight into a segment of counter-culture that is under-represented in modern American memoir. In this important book, Safran offers up the wounds of a flower child, and every frayed petal is astonishingly beautiful.
(This review was first published in Gulf Stream Magazine, Nov. 8, 2013)
Joshua Safran’s memoir, Free Spirit: Growing up on the Road and off the Grid begins with a wild ride up the side of Cultus Mountain in Skagit County, Washington. Safran’s stepfather, Leopoldo, a Salvadoran guerilla fighter who is drunk, angry, and erratic, is at the wheel screaming about CIA surveillance. Safran’s mother, Claudia has finally been shaken out of a meditation focused on channeling blue universal energy to surround and protect them from harm. Within the first page, Safran has established that as terrifying as this ride might seem to the reader, for him, “Fear was commonplace, part of the will you kidnap me or won’t you calculation inherent in every hitched ride.”
The journey on which Safran takes the reader is filled with terrifying situations and bizarre characters. His idealistic but clueless mother leaves the relative calm of post-hippie-heyday San Francisco with her four-year-old son and embarks on a quest to find a utopian community outside the influence of mainstream Reagan-era America. Instead of utopia, Safran finds himself living in teepees, a rusty old ice cream truck, a lean-to built on a stump, and a series of shacks, often without electricity or running water. At one point in the memoir, Claudia and the author take to the road with the Rainbow Family, a loosely connected band of hippies who hold gatherings in national forests. When Claudia settles down and marries Leopoldo, the home Safran finds is not idyllic, but dark and filled with abuse at the hands of his stepfather and school-aged bullies, who torment him for being different.
Safran’s memoir is painful and poignant as one would expect of a story filled with abject poverty and domestic violence, but the darkness is balanced with moments of hilarity. Much of the humor comes from the juxtaposition of counter-culture ideology and Safran’s struggle to thrive in an America that is alien to him. The book is peppered with references to larger events in the country and their impact on Safran. For example, the trajectory of his life is set in motion by the Fall of Saigon, and his mother’s disillusionment with a country that has not, as she expected it would, reformed at the close of the Vietnam conflict. When Claudia becomes involved with anti-nuclear protests after a power plant on the other side of the country melts down, Safran writes, “Three Mile Island ruined my preschool graduation.”
Free Spirit is remarkable primarily because of the candor with which Safran tells his story. He doesn’t portray himself as a hero. He struggles throughout the book with how powerless he is to protect not only his mother, but also himself from abuse. When Leopoldo attacks Claudia for imagined infidelities, Safran does not initially try to rescue her. Instead, he hides in his sleeping berth in the loft of the cabin they live in, and listens as his mother is beaten. When he finally convinces his mother to enroll him in public school, Safran is beaten and ostracized by a female bully at the bus stop. Safran’s willingness to express helplessness and vulnerability strengthens the impact of the narrative and gives the reader a deeper understanding of the dysfunctional dynamics of domestic abuse.
The final chapter of the book works as an epilogue. There, the reader sees an adult Safran, more capable of advocating for domestic abuse victims in his work as an attorney.
One concern many memoirists grapple with is the limitation of memory, especially during the first five or so years of life. We don’t carry as clear a recollection of early childhood as we do of later stages of development. Some memoirists choose to recreate dialogue and scene, and allow their imaginations to fill in the blank spaces our minds cannot recall. Safran’s account of his early childhood is vivid and detailed, and obviously recreated, but I was able to accept it as true, because he explains in the epilogue and acknowledgements that he researched those years with the help of his mother and other adults who did possess a clearer recollection of events.
Free Spirit is not an easy book to read because it is so vividly rendered and painful, but it is well-written, often poetic, and compelling, and offers the reader important insight into a segment of counter-culture that is under-represented in modern American memoir. In this important book, Safran offers up the wounds of a flower child, and every frayed petal is astonishingly beautiful.
(This review was first published in Gulf Stream Magazine, Nov. 8, 2013)
October 12, 2015
Joshua Safran’s Free Spirit: Growing Up on the Road and Off the Grid is a haunting, beautifully written memoir about his appalling childhood. Although the subject matter is grim, the book is never-the-less poignant and often wryly funny.
Joshua’s early memories take place in the l970s San Francisco. His mother Claudia, steeped in hippie/revolutionary activism, searches for what she believes to be utopia. She leaves San Francisco in search of the perfect “intentional community,” a promised land free of nuclear war.
Joshua and his mother embark on a series of wild on-the-road adventures. There is no doubt Claudia loves her son, but many of her actions show a gross lack of common sense. In one instance, mother and son travel for days–mostly hitchhiking–to a Rainbow Gathering. She doesn’t think to bring a tent, or even food. Joshua is left on his own for days while his mother takes up with a just-met lover. Rain-soaked and miserable, the six-year-old pilfers a blanket and, on his own, finds food and shelter. Drugs and alcohol are plentiful; real food scarce.
Through the years Claudia travels with different men, but Joshua, even as a young child, can see no idealistic future with any of them. Claudia is unbelievably naive, always making excuses for her current lover’s failings. Through all their travels, she teaches her son a love of books and he learns to read at an early age.
They try a variety of living situations–communes, make-shift homes, a teepee, buses, a trailer, an abandoned ice-cream truck, and on Camano Island, Washington, a lean-to built on a stump. In the meantime Claudia has married an abusive Salvadorian guerrilla. Joshua struggles with his step-father’s alcohol-fueled abuse to both his mother and to him, or alternatively listens to their noisy love-making in their tiny water-logged shack. Joshua is eager to go to school, but he has huge obstacles to overcome to even get ready. They have no running water, no electricity, not even a decent outhouse. Joshua doesn’t own a comb, toothbrush, or a mirror. His clothes are patched and dirty. Kids bully him and tease him about his unkempt appearance. Still, he loves school, loves to learn and especially loves being warm. Eventually they move to Stanwood, just across the bridge from Camano Island, and he takes solace in the Stanwood library, relishing in the many books, being able to use the bathroom to wash himself with warm running water, and as a refuge from his abusive step-father.
Free Spirit is, in the end, a story of triumph. The language is rough and the situations harrowing, but it is an honest, stark but eloquently-told coming-of-age story. At the end of the book the author sums up his adult life. What he has accomplished is impressive.
To learn more about the author, visit http://www.jsafran.com/
October 7, 2013
"Free Spirit" is a fascinating and powerful memoir of a young boy who had all the odds against him, thanks to a less-than-stellar mother, and managed to survive to become an accomplished and stable adult.
That being said, this was also a very frustrating book as well. At times I just wanted to leap into the pages and give Joshua's mother, Claudia, a shaking at times, a slapping at others. I realize that Joshua probably didn't write this book to intentionally present his mother in a harsh light, but his brutal honesty in presenting his story of his childhood just made me furious at his mother - how could she put her child through all this?
Joshua Safran's startling frank and brilliant written story is one that will evoke many emotions for the reader - compassion, admiration, and yes, anger. By the end of the book, I was so proud for Joshua for surviving his very untraditional childhood and cheered when he vowed to not let his own children experience the things that were forced upon him.
I highly recommend this memoir! It is a book that you won't soon forget.
May 25, 2014
No words of mine can do this book justice. Safran is a brilliant writer who was willing to open wounds from his past in order to share with us his story of unthinkable triumph.
You'll finish this in a few sittings. Ultimately you'll find that, no matter now a person is raised, and no matter how dramatically the cards are stacked against him, there is something inside all of us that is stronger than any outside force.
You'll finish this in a few sittings. Ultimately you'll find that, no matter now a person is raised, and no matter how dramatically the cards are stacked against him, there is something inside all of us that is stronger than any outside force.
November 20, 2017
I was enamored of the hippie trip when I was younger, right in the Reagan/Bush years when this takes place. I still tend to romanticize the people living off the grid, particularly because my son has considered becoming one of them. This book is a cautionary tale about how not to do that. There's nothing heroic about cold, rainy nights and poopholes in the ground that are swarming with flies.
The first half of the book is funny. The author mocks his mother's New Age beliefs and lifestyle with a thoroughly enjoyable irony. But in the middle, when she gets into an abusive relationship with an alcoholic ex-soldier, the book takes a dark turn. At first you're angry with her for her irresponsibility toward her son, but it doesn't take long before you're feeling sorry for her.
The happy ending is that the author grew up into a lawyer who has fought for other victims of domestic violence. He has also striven to give his daughters the comforts of a suburban life that he lacked, by which I mean indoor plumbing and heating, not a life in the lap of luxury. My frum friends will be interested to know that he became a baal teshuva also, but that's more of a minor than a major theme of the book. When his mother criticized his choice as a "patriarchal, rule-centered religion," he said that it was a natural consequence of having grown up a hippie without a decent father figure. So all in all, this book goes to prove that everyone, no matter how they grow up, ends up finding fault with it and tries to do just the opposite with their own kids. So nobody should be surprised when their kids come of age and ask, "What were you thinking when you raised me like that?"
The first half of the book is funny. The author mocks his mother's New Age beliefs and lifestyle with a thoroughly enjoyable irony. But in the middle, when she gets into an abusive relationship with an alcoholic ex-soldier, the book takes a dark turn. At first you're angry with her for her irresponsibility toward her son, but it doesn't take long before you're feeling sorry for her.
The happy ending is that the author grew up into a lawyer who has fought for other victims of domestic violence. He has also striven to give his daughters the comforts of a suburban life that he lacked, by which I mean indoor plumbing and heating, not a life in the lap of luxury. My frum friends will be interested to know that he became a baal teshuva also, but that's more of a minor than a major theme of the book. When his mother criticized his choice as a "patriarchal, rule-centered religion," he said that it was a natural consequence of having grown up a hippie without a decent father figure. So all in all, this book goes to prove that everyone, no matter how they grow up, ends up finding fault with it and tries to do just the opposite with their own kids. So nobody should be surprised when their kids come of age and ask, "What were you thinking when you raised me like that?"
September 9, 2013
"Free Spirit" is a heartbreaking memoir of a boy who is dragged all over by his mother and faces horrible things such as bullying and domestic abuse. It's a hard read but a redeeming one. I think it's important to read books that challenge you to think a little bit more about some of the really difficult situations that so many people in this world go through. one of those books where you just want to give the main character a big hug.
There are a couple subtly funny parts in this book but the book is mostly very serious. One thing I have to say is that Joshua Safran is incredibly resilient throughout the book. His mother followed the hippie/ peace movement and he's just along for the ride. It was really interesting for me to read about their lives together. I love reading memoirs about people with very different lives than my own.
The writing in this book is pretty good. Safran gives us an unflinching view of what his childhood was like. We get to see it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some parts of the book were really difficult to read because of the sad subject matter. Luckily for us, this story does have a good ending and really shows how everyone has the ability to take something really bad and turn it into something really amazing. In this instance, Safran is able to turn his experience into something to help others in similar situations!
Overall, this is a good but serious memoir!
There are a couple subtly funny parts in this book but the book is mostly very serious. One thing I have to say is that Joshua Safran is incredibly resilient throughout the book. His mother followed the hippie/ peace movement and he's just along for the ride. It was really interesting for me to read about their lives together. I love reading memoirs about people with very different lives than my own.
The writing in this book is pretty good. Safran gives us an unflinching view of what his childhood was like. We get to see it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some parts of the book were really difficult to read because of the sad subject matter. Luckily for us, this story does have a good ending and really shows how everyone has the ability to take something really bad and turn it into something really amazing. In this instance, Safran is able to turn his experience into something to help others in similar situations!
Overall, this is a good but serious memoir!
February 22, 2016
I finished this book in two chunks instead of one, because I had to take my son to his basketball game and go grocery shopping, neither of which I would have done if I were a character in Free Spirit. This is another one of those memoirs (like Glass Castle) that will make you feel like you had a fantastic childhood and you are now an awesome parent. Joshua Safran is a great writer, and has apparently turned out to be a successful and well-adjusted adult (and family man AND guy with an actual career) which makes me happy. It's hard to imagine overcoming such a life that his mother provided for him.
Cool bonus: Most of the book takes place in the PNW, where (and when -- we're exactly contemporary) I grew up. I know exactly where they're talking about when they go to the hippie Co-op in Mt. Vernon and the Peace Arch in Blaine, etc.
Cool bonus: Most of the book takes place in the PNW, where (and when -- we're exactly contemporary) I grew up. I know exactly where they're talking about when they go to the hippie Co-op in Mt. Vernon and the Peace Arch in Blaine, etc.
January 22, 2018
I bought this book after listening to the author's spellbinding Strangers podcast, "The Son, The Goddess and Leopoldo," expecting that the book would reveal more information about the author's bizarre mother and her background. There were some crumbs, but at the end of the book, his mother still remains pretty much an enigma. He never actually discusses her childhood and has almost nothing to say about her father. Whereas the podcast was nicely paced, and devoted equal measures to the author's childhood and adult life, 90% of the book takes place before the author reaches the age of 12. His college years, spiritual evolution, impressive pro-bono legal work, get a rushed, summary treatment. All in all, the book doesn't add much to the podcast.
February 23, 2020
I just spent an hour trying to remember this author’s name and scrolling through other children of counter culture memoirs. The story is memorable several years after reading it for the tenderness of the love of a son for his struggling mother. Loved.
August 29, 2023
4.5. Wow what a story of resilience and overcoming the odds. Good for Josh for breaking the cycle. His mom was really misguided but he made it. Praise God.
September 20, 2013
Joshua Safran is an award-winning attorney widely noted for his efforts to aid survivors of domestic violence and his support of women’s rights, but it’s his triumph over his own personal history – told in his new book, Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid – that is perhaps just as worthy of acclaim. As the child of a single mother amid San Francisco’s countercultural world of the 1970s, Safran’s life was far from normal. His mother – at times Wiccan, at times bisexual, and always opposed to the corruption of the political scheme – followed her spiritual yearnings across the western states in search of a utopia that nestled comfortably with her peace-minded, Marxist, organic ideal, and with her on this journey was a four year-old Josh. From a big green bus on the open road to a lean-to in the wilderness and a tepee in the middle of a drug-saturated spiritual gathering, Josh lived a true urchin’s life, witnessing his mother’s misguided attachments to all the wrong men. What might have been a quirky unconventionality transformed into a serious situation when one of these wrong men habitually began raising his fist to Josh’s mother. Stranded in the grip of domestic abuse, Josh was determined to change his fate – even if that meant turning against his mother’s perceptions of society and exposing himself to the ugly, brain-washing realities of America: namely, education. Armed only with the teaching he’d received from his mother and his own reading experience, Josh enters society to discovery that America is one seriously complex place, nothing quite like he’s prepared himself for.
Told in a breezily honest and compassionate voice, Safran’s memories of his childhood outside of the realms of mainstream society tell an emotional story of determination, spirit, and the true strength of a son’s love. Through his narrative he touches on some entirely difficult topics, such as his exposure to sex and drugs at an impossibly young age and the disturbing scenes of abuse he witnessed in one of their many ramshackle homes. Safran handles these stories with a certain simplicity, and often even with an unexpected wit, that illuminates just how successfully he was able to overcome the trials of his young life. The love with which he writes about his mother transcends the pages and explains – without outright having to explain – just how much he cared for her and how willingly he forgave her misguided attempts to find a blissful life for the two of them. It’s in his relationship with his mother, laid bare as it is on the pages, that Free Spirit truly touches on the heart of its magic. A woman who can’t seem to triumph in life through her many failed attempts never really takes the shape of a failure to her son, and Safran illustrates exactly how the complex, entirely unconventional way she raised him helped to shape him for the future. Instead of a child made dumb by the absence of formal education, we witness a young boy brought up on the intricacies of philosophy, Native American history, astrology, and bolstered by the power of his own personal readings, be it a foray into Narnia or the Encyclopedia Britannica. We see that his mother’s feminist and enlightenment-empowered mindset raised a boy whose sense of morality and determination were innate, unfaltering. In short, we journey with Safran into the past to understand that the most difficult groundwork can sometimes be the foundation on which great achievements are built.
I was engrossed in Free Spirit and at times I found myself reading it like a novel – perhaps due to a subconscious hope that some realities of the book couldn’t possibly appear outside of fiction. But I think in many ways Safran’s memoir manages to rise out of classification as it becomes, at its core, a man’s story of his boyhood experiences and the relationship with his mother that ultimately steered the course for the rest of his life. It’s a poetic account of some very unpoetic moments, a love letter woven compassionately with the search for an apology, and through the story of his life Safran leaves an impression on his audience that will engage their imagination and almost certainly change their perspective on the world.
(Review © Casee Marie, originally published on September 10, 2013 at LiteraryInklings.com. A copy of the book was provided for the purpose of review.)
Told in a breezily honest and compassionate voice, Safran’s memories of his childhood outside of the realms of mainstream society tell an emotional story of determination, spirit, and the true strength of a son’s love. Through his narrative he touches on some entirely difficult topics, such as his exposure to sex and drugs at an impossibly young age and the disturbing scenes of abuse he witnessed in one of their many ramshackle homes. Safran handles these stories with a certain simplicity, and often even with an unexpected wit, that illuminates just how successfully he was able to overcome the trials of his young life. The love with which he writes about his mother transcends the pages and explains – without outright having to explain – just how much he cared for her and how willingly he forgave her misguided attempts to find a blissful life for the two of them. It’s in his relationship with his mother, laid bare as it is on the pages, that Free Spirit truly touches on the heart of its magic. A woman who can’t seem to triumph in life through her many failed attempts never really takes the shape of a failure to her son, and Safran illustrates exactly how the complex, entirely unconventional way she raised him helped to shape him for the future. Instead of a child made dumb by the absence of formal education, we witness a young boy brought up on the intricacies of philosophy, Native American history, astrology, and bolstered by the power of his own personal readings, be it a foray into Narnia or the Encyclopedia Britannica. We see that his mother’s feminist and enlightenment-empowered mindset raised a boy whose sense of morality and determination were innate, unfaltering. In short, we journey with Safran into the past to understand that the most difficult groundwork can sometimes be the foundation on which great achievements are built.
I was engrossed in Free Spirit and at times I found myself reading it like a novel – perhaps due to a subconscious hope that some realities of the book couldn’t possibly appear outside of fiction. But I think in many ways Safran’s memoir manages to rise out of classification as it becomes, at its core, a man’s story of his boyhood experiences and the relationship with his mother that ultimately steered the course for the rest of his life. It’s a poetic account of some very unpoetic moments, a love letter woven compassionately with the search for an apology, and through the story of his life Safran leaves an impression on his audience that will engage their imagination and almost certainly change their perspective on the world.
(Review © Casee Marie, originally published on September 10, 2013 at LiteraryInklings.com. A copy of the book was provided for the purpose of review.)
September 25, 2018
Happy that the author survived a completely dysfunctional,
mentally ill parent, but this story makes me mad.
Didn't finish...gave up half way thru.
My rule is to give a book 100 pages.
I gave it more than that...
mentally ill parent, but this story makes me mad.
Didn't finish...gave up half way thru.
My rule is to give a book 100 pages.
I gave it more than that...
December 18, 2015
Wow! In this memoir, the author tells of growing up with his hippie mother who wanders from one commune to another, more often than not living without electricity or indoor plumbing. He deals with multiple hardships, including an abusive stepfather, and yet finds things to appreciate in his counter-cultural upbringing. Much of the story is semi-tragic, but there are flashes of humor as Josh has interactions with "straight people" and schoolteachers. He spends much of his time learning without school, because he and school don't really get along. Take this episode when Josh tries out first grade and the art teacher tells him about the festive holiday of Thanksgiving that apparently everyone celebrated.
(After checking with his mother about this so-called holiday) "I returned the next day (to first grade) preaching about Native American genocide. 'Did you know,' I asked the art teacher, 'that Indians to this day are still being driven off their land? The government took away their forests and meadows and now they want their rocks. For the uranium. So we can make atomic bombs to kill every last woman, man, and child.' I shook my head in disgust. The art teacher shook her head too. We lapsed into silence. I sat with my hands folded while the other kids made paper turkeys out of their handprints."
The austere environment, abusive stepfather, and lack of a traditional elementary school education don't stop Josh from later excelling in school, becoming a lawyer, and helping others. An inspiring story! And don't miss the documentary called "Crime After Crime" about Josh's experiences as a lawyer, trying to get a woman out of prison.
(After checking with his mother about this so-called holiday) "I returned the next day (to first grade) preaching about Native American genocide. 'Did you know,' I asked the art teacher, 'that Indians to this day are still being driven off their land? The government took away their forests and meadows and now they want their rocks. For the uranium. So we can make atomic bombs to kill every last woman, man, and child.' I shook my head in disgust. The art teacher shook her head too. We lapsed into silence. I sat with my hands folded while the other kids made paper turkeys out of their handprints."
The austere environment, abusive stepfather, and lack of a traditional elementary school education don't stop Josh from later excelling in school, becoming a lawyer, and helping others. An inspiring story! And don't miss the documentary called "Crime After Crime" about Josh's experiences as a lawyer, trying to get a woman out of prison.
September 29, 2017
This book was difficult to read. Much of it is a chronicle of the consequences of the author's mother's bad taste in men. Also about how she kept herself convinced that her psychic abilities and political views (both of which she attributed her romances to) were more important than taking care of her son. Especially after he and his mother left San Francisco, there were precious few times where he wasn't being either neglected or abused. I don't know if he knows which he preferred; either way, his situation was bad. At the end of the book, he brings us up to date on what happened with his life after that, which was all good, so the book ends on a cheerful note.
August 7, 2017
My favorite paragraph:
"The shitters were the communal restroom for the entire (Rainbow Family) Festival and consisted of nothing more than slit trenches carves into the mud with a few logs thrown down to hang your butt off of.... (having to use them) in front of two dreadlocked women crapping while they played Filipino nose flutes, or in the midst of a group of diarrheal bikers, was too great an offense to my dignity."
"The shitters were the communal restroom for the entire (Rainbow Family) Festival and consisted of nothing more than slit trenches carves into the mud with a few logs thrown down to hang your butt off of.... (having to use them) in front of two dreadlocked women crapping while they played Filipino nose flutes, or in the midst of a group of diarrheal bikers, was too great an offense to my dignity."
November 15, 2017
Every time I set this book down, I couldn't wait until I had a chance to pick it up again. The story of domestic neglect/abuse reminded me of Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, though I was more drawn into Free Spirit than I was into that. The end of the book is written in a different tone than the rest of it, and is occasionally a bit self-congratulatory, but I'm grateful for the introspection and attempts at explanation presented there. Highly recommended.
January 4, 2020
This is a remarkable book: a gripping, psychologically acute coming-of-age story that reckons with family violence and the often-failed utopian vision of 1970s & 1980s American intentional community living. It's also, somehow, very funny, viscerally vivid, and full of heart. There are some scenes that I don't think I'll ever forget. Incredible read. I highly recommend it.
December 10, 2020
Great autobiography of a highly unusual childhood of the child of a hippy witch with a wide range of boyfriends and living situations. There should be a trigger warning for domestic abuse as there is quite a lot of it. Otherwise an interesting insight into a wild life on Earth.
August 15, 2021
Kind of a misleading title in my opinion, itd much more sad and much less "intentional" that I had believed- it's not so much a story of free spirited off grid living than one of a boy in a bad homelife and often fighting destitute poverty. Not bad in itself, but now what i was expecting
June 19, 2017
Crazy, crazy story.
September 13, 2017
Fascinating story of a boy brought up under incredibly difficult circumstances who came through it all as a fine, upstanding citizen. At time funny, often sad, it was an enjoyable read.
February 18, 2018
It was weird. Too much about his childhood. I didn’t like it
April 19, 2018
Too painful to read.
June 6, 2018
Haunting. Hit too close to home.
September 21, 2019
Thought this was rather sad. I was very surprised Claudia and Josh made such a quick return to civilization.
January 17, 2022
Kept the pages turning, even after a reading hiatus. Fucked up childhood and glad he made it through to become a better man.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2022
I inhaled this true story of Josh living in poverty, off-grid, and isolated with his mom. It is a story of powerful residence and survival at a young age.
June 27, 2024
I could hardly put the book down.
December 12, 2025
This was a tough read in many ways, but beautifully told and an illuminating story of a beautiful human spirit.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews