31/08/26
A book right up to date of the problems of contemporary USA. Artie Dam, a fifty-something high-school history teacher in a small coastal town near Boston.
Artie had taught history to 11th graders and had been the assistant soccer coach. In the class when Danny Marino mocked Rhoda Lazarre. Artie stood up and asked the kids " Do you ever feel superior to someone else because you are not. Artie son Rob had been driving and had an accident killing his girlfriend Heather who had not been wearing a seatbelt adn was crushed under the steering wheel. This changed both Rob and his family. Rob had a job in a high tech company that had contracts with the army. He married Francesca a concert pianist who was most of the time in Europe.
Artie had been married to Evie for 34 years, she had married someone from the working class. They had had a quiet wedding as. Where as Evie's sister a few years later had a lavish wedding to a young man and were divorce and were divorced 10 years later. His father in law paid off arties student loans so he now felt like a free man. History tell us that in all that there has never been a time when people wee not killing each other.
Rob came home he and Francesca were through, he had met someone else. Rachel was a social worker at a hospital in Boston and helped people after they left the hospital. Rachel wanted children but Francesca did not. A plumber came to fix the faucet and was depressed as his wife was having a affair and his son Danny Marino knew about it. Danny had written in the first day essay " Every thing in this world is a big stinking lies and people suck.
Artie had been brought up in a basement apartment and his father was the caretaker of 3 buildings. His mother had been crazy and was institutionalized a few times. Artie's sister had not married till she was almost thirty and both their parent had died the year of their marriage.
Evie had a hard time getting pregnant but the went on a holiday to London where a month later the discovered she was pregnant.. Reginald only married Flossie because she said she was regnant and she wasn't, she was never happy.
Artie took the dingy out to his boat, and lost grip of his sailboat and was being carried down by his heavy books. A motor boat came and saved him at hospital it took him time to war m and they checked that he had not had a heart attack. His son Rob asked him if he wanted to kill himself. At the hospital in the days when one was still able to smoke, Artie had his tonsils out as a kid. The was an oldish woman smoking and her story was that she had cancer and they had to remove half her tongue, she lived alone and she was scared. Arties father had spoken to her and discovered she had no money and no arrangement for when she left the hospital. She was grateful that he spoke to her while she wept. She is the only one who doesn't hold back the truth.
The saw Francesca playing her heart out on the piano at Carnegie hall. She said she was looking for god when she played ,
Rob and Francesca were going to separate because he could not see the way forward with her never home. Rachel was introduced to them, Evie said she has no since of dressing trying to look cool.
Danny Marino was a mess his mover had moved out and back 3 days later. At the soccer game someone had shouted "Jew hater" and there was a fight on the field. A year ago the hostages had been taken in Gaza.
Ken was the Guy who saved Artie and they met for dinner often as they had a lot in common. Kens had grown up in South Boston and his father was a postman. They had a close friendship and Artie even mentioned that he knew that he hadn't fathered Rob. This friendship was solid despite Kens choice of politics and that ken was very Catholic
Artie gave assignments to kids to read letters of Union soldiers to discuss, there was a complaint that Confederate soldiers letters should also be studied. Hoover Lakeland office had a black and white photo of Martin Luther King giving his Washington speech. Hoover said to Artie. He is going to win "people want authority" he has a cult following. Hoover shot himself in his office. Later it was revealed that he was under investigation by the FBI for harboring illegals immigrants at this home and had received death threats , his mistress had turned him in.
Artie had gone to a catholic school but not church but the concept of evil never left him. His mother came from an Irish family in S. Boston. She and sister that was put into an orphanage because of their poverty, after the father died and they received a widows check the girls returned home. Artie's mother hated the Italian neighbours yet when was always talking to them on the step outside. When she was in a mental institution Mrs. Ferraro cooked for them.
Students knew little about the holocaust which they should have been taught the year before. He had lied to the students as they could not bring about world peace nobody could.
At the end of summer the boat get pulled out of the water and wrapped for winter.
Marie had wanted their fathers genes passed on died with her still born baby.
Elon Musks father was a awful man, and Elon probably had Asperger's.
He understood that Rob had thought about suicide, he was an engineer in a company with government contracts and could not discuss his job. He gets a letter from Reginald Mac Donald discovers that his mom could not fall pregnant and he had obliged her. He was informed that Reg's DNA was sent for testing and he could have his tested at the same lab. His parents went to London on holiday and after that she fell pregnant and Reg is the father. They had lived a lie together. Later Evie wanted to take Artie to London and again but he refused to go.
Rob has no plans to tell his mother. . Rob did not look like Reg but had Reg's gait.
Rachel was going home to her parents for Thanksgiving so Francesca was invited home to Robs parents. Rob had been valedictorian of his class and Reg had cheered. Reg had married Flossie because she lied about being pregnant
Is there such a thing as free will Carl Jung is the one to ask? He believed in collective unconscious and coined the words extroversion and introversion.
With the election half the country was stunned and half was jubilant.
Artie realized that he had been mentally removed from his father. His father spoke of how difficult it was to be a German after WW1 and a German veteran of that war. Then came the depression. Artie felt he never learned who had his father been. He learned about sex hearing it through the ceiling.
A women unfaithfully to her husband ,her therapist Evie tried to convince her not to tell her husband- honesty comes in different forms.
Finally Rob realizes that Rachel has issues as she is a kleptomaniac i.e. she is screwed up. Artie at school late catches Danny writing Fuck --- on the wall. The 2 of them work to erase it and nothing was said. Mr. Dam had ushered him into the world of adults .and changed him. Danny did not want to be like his parents. Kids were worried on how they would pay for their education. Later he told Danny to get his grades as possible as he was possible to get a scholarship. But my father wants me to go into his plumbing business! Does your father love you, then he will understand?
The guy would be in prison if he wasn't bombing the Gazans his corrupt. Artie was aware how much people lied to each other. Few students saw themselves with any prospects in the world.
He heard that a guy died Charles Schwartz who had a men's clothing store and would go to the homes of his obese customers too embarrassed to come into his store measure them and get them their size clothes delivered. He was the guy who dealt with Artie when he had a kleptomaniac problem. Is the Pope catholic ? means yes that is obvious.
Artie " they worst thing I did to my father was that I was not there for him" Rob says he is thinking of writing to Heathers parents. Rob was now out of work with the change of administration..
Evelyn Peabody tried to kill herself with Klonopin pills.
----------------Epilogue
Artie watched as President Trump sneeringly humiliated the leader of Ukraine in the Oval office, and talked of making Gaza "the new French Riviera. He felt his country was committing suicide. Rob came with Francesca and they seemed very much a couple. Rob suggested they go out in the boat, without the cellphone. He told Artie his working for the European Union and it is serious stuff that is why they should use the burner phone. American intelligence can't be trusted any more and are working on their own AI platform. Stay off social media. Rob has a EU Passport. Suddenly a heavy fog came down and they could not see their way back and they panicked but ten minutes later the fog cleared. That was the Winter that Hoover Lakeland shot himself and the new principal was a woman who Artie had misgivings about. Don't say boys and girls as you are not sure of their gender. Students were now using ChatGPT to do their assignments. Students realized that Dam-dam went crazy and had" lost it". Artie missed Rob and Francesca tremendously, then Francesca had a miscarriage and this was hard on Artie.
His friends Carl and Anne retired. Because he loved history the state of the country weighed down on him. Talking to Anne he said "My occupation is gone just like Othello" Rob had been detained for 2 hours at immigration and said he would not risk coming back again. Artie died of a heart attack. Danny came to the funeral. Francesca was playing music composed by Artie. Kenneth was talking to the father of Heather Morrison's at the funeral. Evie realized that Artie was a saint and never remarried.
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Upward Bound by Woody Brown 2026 183 pg. 4/10/26
Upward bound is an asylum form of day care centre for autistic children or adults. Jorge a gentle giant and eloper as he would suddenly run off. The narrator's parents refused to accept that he was an idiot because he was speechless., just had to untangle the channels in the brain. His mother worked with him, reading to him children classics and poetry. He also had an aid through middle and high school, he got a high school diploma. The mother became his aid at community college. He became an English Major and dreamed of supporting himself at college by writing a novel. Every morning people would sign the clients in, he could sign but slowly. His father suddenly died of a heart attack. He could not get an actual job as the door was bolted from the inside. When he sees a crime movie he has already figured out who did it 5 minutes after it started. He has many needs and little to give in return.
At Target Jorge looked for Mr. Potato head. Copacetic vibe -relax no problem. Carlos and Jorge had a connection between them, without language and Jorge gets comfort from Carlos OCD patterns, compulsive disorders. Cerebral palsy makes muscles and joints stiff, freezes the face and prevents speech. Tom is in a wheelchair and sometimes is just forgotten.
Echolalia repetitive speech by a child, not voluntary.
College students part timers go home for the summer break, kids who live elsewhere need summer jobs, but feel inadequate in the role.
The school district and Regional Centre had been providing speech therapy , physical therapy, occupational therapy till the age of 18 then it falls away. They doctor pointe doubt that patients with Spastic quadriparesis have a short life span. He needs someone to read to him a few hours a day.
Mariana had the role of Carlos's mother since she was 11, their mother was a drunk and in jail for robbery.
Ann had a lifeguard certificate so was now their life guard. So extra sessions were added to the pool so that all could get in every day. When poop was seen in the pool they had to get everyone out. Her first day at Upward bound was a Kafka nightmare surrounded by alien creatures. People who could not walk without lurching, some were silent. This would be good for her resume. The place needed helpers badly. Had she toured the place before agreeing she would have kept walking right out. She should have kept a journal this summer to use as part of an honours thesis. She felt infected as a person surrounded by zombies. The staff all wore a uniform T-shirt, these people were not retarded they were out of control of their bodies. Ann was thinking of taking a speech pathology class.
Carlos is in his mid twenties and has already spent time in jail.
Getting all 20 into their bathing suits took virtually the whole staff. Autism comes with anxiety, the patients did not like it there and it was boring for them. Emma's mother told her she liked music and she liked it when Ann sang her Beatle songs. Carlos had no background in disability things. His sister got him the job after she had been working there a long time. The other staffers were either too young or too stupid to teach Carlos anything. His sister Mariana was the key to survival here she was the best thing at the place. Carlos's mother had chosen drugs and booze over him. His mother had gone to prison when Carlos was 6 and Mariana was 16. However he still said to Mariana "You are not my mother "when tried to keep him from getting into trouble.
Dave was a Luddite - It is inadvisable to play music as they get overstimulated. He had to deal with insurance and liability. Dave got to be director of Upward Bound without a special ed. or psychology background, and doesn't know about the dominant disability of each client. He depends on Carlos. Dave had come California to work at Hollywood, would love a big Hollywood night with an actress benefactor , but there's no money, he can barely pay salaries. At the show they have girls going round with donation baskets
About a third of the clients live in group homes. The others live at home.
Walter and Emma like being together; he likes people talking to him as a one sided conversation. They have the same kind of autism and would need trained aids to help this but there are none at Upward bound. They need to point at letters to have a conversation.
Camp Cammie which is controlled by Upward Bound is for disabled kids and adults. he had his father's bag and he took out of it a pill container a counselor saw that and in a panic grabbed it as none of them were supposed to have medication as this was given to them as needed. Oh my God did you take all of these. If Camp Cammie would not tolerate him who would.
Jorge- the emergency contact on Jorge's file is the social worker, he is an adult and his family is not responsible for him like a child. Abandonment is part of his make up. Carlos was the only person who cares about him, and honestly had some affection for him
2
Avery was a cashier at Target and on a Friday a big tall Latino arrived and gave a shriek. Ten funky people on autopilot and 2 handlers came from Upward Bound like a Magic School bus. The helpers looked young and did not have their cell phones out. Slowly Avery became aware that the group was made up of individuals each different. One was in a wheelchair. This group never buys anything and for her it is the end of her week at 2pm she has a Sociology lecture. The girl aid is a pretty collage student. You earn more as a student in retail. Avery has a stepdad who doesn't like her and wants her out of the house. She sees no future in retail and got a lot out of psychology class. She can see herself mending broken bodies but not mental problems. Looking on this group she thinks adversity is an incentive for soul building. Every person struggles with something. Incontinence has got to be a burden.
Jorge ran across the road and a policeman pulled out his revolver and shot at him Carlos had just moved in to comfort Jorge and the bullet went into his abdomen. An ambulance arrived and Mariana went with it also . Carlos died on the way to hospital. The police took Jorge and sent him to a psychiatric hold for 72 hours. The trigger happy cop should have been in the loony bin. Freaks like Jorge shouldn't be allowed near our homes or parks.
That ended a brief rotten chapter of my life. Carlos was the best thing about Upward Bound. At the funeral we learn that Carlos's dad had left the family and the mother had worked 2 jobs. Carlos had found himself in Jorge , Drew and Emma. Dave took credit for turning Carlos around? Carlos always liked you Walter.
Walter qualifies for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) with his mother, Lisa, acting as his provider. Walters' mom decided that she could stop working and take care of him if they moved to a smaller house so they could get by. Walter started writing a memorial about Carlos, then about Jorge. Walter kept on writing.
