Misfortune: First Years in California

by Gary Kern

Written in 1980, but reading like the post-Bush melt-down of today, MISFORTUNE is a memoir about different kinds of hard luck. The author has lost his job, his profession and his marriage, and tries to make money by translating Russian, then by helping an old woman who claims to have lost millions and finally by working as an attendant for the handicapped. The first section, "Quads," presents the special world of quadriplegics close-up, "Old Woman" details the plight of the dispossessed old crone, "Polyglottos" recalls a famous Russian dissident (Lev Kopelev) and the difficulties of translating him for three cents a word. The Afterword sums up "The Misfortune Mentality" for the reader, who needs to beware it.

MISFORTUNE, LETTERS FROM DWIGHT and UNDER BLUE MOUNTAIN combine to form a 30-year trilogy entitled EXILE IN CALIFORNIA, but each is an independent work.

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2011