Thinking My Way to the End of the World: A Memoir

When Plan A went up in flames, he desperately searched for Plan B. Jerry Waxler arrived at college in 1965 eager to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. But rage against the war distracted him from his goal. Through the haze of marijuana, rock and roll, and social philosophy, he searched for Truth, until violence and love shattered his intellectual detachment, moving him from anger to defeat. Decades later, in reconstructing his journey from idealism in Philadelphia to chaos in Madison to despair in Berkeley, he discovered echoes of the suffering his grandparents endured when they fled religious persecution in Russia. His memoir shows the measures a young man will take to free himself from history's shackles and find the answers he seeks. "Waxler captures all the angst, anger and hope of the boomer generation juxtaposed with his personal evolution in making sense of this world. [His] story will resonate with many who have travelled a circuitous journey to self-discovery." Judy Mandel, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Replacement Child "Jerry Waxler's dark and secretive fears and failures, expressed in meticulous and smart writing, turn the angst of growing up into a captivating story." Madeline Sharples, author of Leaving the Hall Light On, A Mother's Memoir of Living with Her Son's Bipolar Disorder and Surviving His Suicide