Riding the Cyclone: Growing Up Feral In the '60s - Paperback

by Lauren Ruth Wiener (Author)

When Lauren Ruth Wiener was six, her mother died without warning. More interested in dating than child-rearing, her father left her in the care of a violent, unhinged nanny. A riveting first-person account, Riding the Cyclone careens like the Coney Island roller coaster from gut-wrenching sadism to hilariously caustic commentary as Lauren tries to make sense of her world. Growing up in extreme isolation amid suburban affluence, she suffers from the profound disconnect between appearance and reality. Seeking freedom from her terrifying home in an idyllic private high school, Lauren finds her inner chaos mirrored in the upheavals of the '60s.

Author Biography

Lauren Ruth Wiener was born in New York City in the summer of 1953. Riding the Cyclone is the story of her first eighteen years. From 1971-75 she attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After graduating with that distinctive certificate of the screwed-up, a bachelor's degree in psychology, she taught English as a second language in Japan, then pursued a master's in linguistics, first at Brown University, and then the University of Pennsylvania. Proudly clutching her nearly useless degree, she moved back to Portland, Oregon, where she taught English to foreign students and took care of reptiles and lost all perspective at the thought of never moving again. And thereby hangs a tale. Next....