Out of Wedlock

In OUT OF WEDLOCK, Jess Freeman, a facial plastic surgeon who refashions the identities of others, knows little of his own identity. Who are his biological parents and could they be the source of his sudden trances, when he drifts off into visionary worlds, by turns radiant and nightmarish? Reality checks-quick bops on the head-are administered by his nurse during delicate surgeries. But fumbling Jess pulls off a superb makeover of a severely injured patient, with a stunning sequel.

Set in Greenwich Village and Santa Fe from 1989 to 2008, Jess's romantic misadventures echo perils of the heart endured in the days of Edna St. Vincent Millay and D. H. Lawrence, the sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies, and today's hookup culture. But Jess and his close companions more than endure; whatever their fates, they are sustained by a group loyalty anchored in pluck, buoyancy, and affection. This is a novel of charmed human acts-from feasting and parading to sailing and dancing to yearning and loving to seeking roots and chasing jackrabbits. All these are brought within a brisk narrative of startling recognitions that prove transformative for Jess Freeman and his intimates.

"I read Out of Wedlock at one go, sitting down in the morning to give it a try and not getting up until early evening, when, with a deep sigh of satisfaction, I read the final line. With a plot as screwy as its characters, it charges ahead with manic energy. With all the fun you're having, you may not be prepared for how deeply Out of Wedlock will end up moving you. Lockridge is our Voltaire and Out of Wedlock is his Candide."

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of The Mind-Body Problem, Betraying Spinoza, and Plato at the Googleplex; MacArthur Fellowship, National Humanities Medal