"Eddie's Bastard" is William Amos Mann IV, known as Billy - the son of a
heroic pilot killed in Vietnam and an unknown woman. The last in a line of
proud, individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket
at the door of the dilapidated mansion where his bitter, hard-drinking
grandfather, Thomas Mann, has exiled himself. Astonished and moved by the
arrival of his unexpected progeny, Thomas sets out to raise the boy himself -
on a diet of love, fried baloney, and the fascinating lore of their shared
heritage. Listening to his sets out to capture the stories on paper. He is
a Mann, Grandpa reminds him daily, and thus destined for greatness.

Through the tales of his ancestors, his own experiences, and the
unforgettable characters who enhance and enliven his adolescence, Billy
learns of bravery and cowardice, of life and death, of the heart's capacity
for love and for unremitting hatred, eventually grasping the meaning of
family and history and their power to shape destiny. Steeped in imagery and
threaded with lyricism, Eddie's Bastard is a novel of discovery, of a young
man's emergence into the world, and the endless possibilities it offers.

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