Freedomland Book

THE STORY: Ages ago, Noah and his wife took their kids to the amusement park Freedomland. After that trip, Noah's wife ran off and left him to raise the family. Now a retired professor of religion, Noah has married Claude, a sex therapist, and lives a secluded life in the family farmhouse. Breaking this seclusion are Noah's two daughters and son who return home for an impromptu reunion. Polly, an eternally lost Greek-studies major, is the first to arrive. In pursuit is her ferocious sister Sigrid, a painter of clowns, with a befuddled magazine interviewer in tow. Soon after, their brother, Seth, a survivalist, arrives with a backwoods pregnant girlfriend. An overdue showdown between Seth and his father sets off fireworks that illuminate the neurosis, rage and anxiety of one family - and of America at the turn of the millennium. FREEDOMLAND's more obvious links are to Buried Child and Bosoms and Neglect. Freed, like Guare, is an inspired wordsmith with a gift for surreal touches in situations grounded in familiar and real territory. - CurtainUp.