About
The title tells it all! Ups & Downs: The (Mis)Adventures of a Crusty Old Fart and his Bouncy Son as they Trek Through the Alps is the humorous true story of Don Fried and his son David, two totally unqualified American backpackers, as they hike through Switzerland, Italy and France. Longtime European residents who between them speak German, French, and Italian, they have perceptive but often curmudgeonly observations about the local people and cultures.
Part of the fun is that the book is written in two distinct voices, as father and son take turns presenting their accounts, interrupting each other with increasingly fractious comments as the hike progresses. In spite of their conflicts, though, Don and David manage to gain moving insights about life, themselves, and each other.
The volume is filled with maps, photos, and humorous cartoons that bring the reader step-by-step along with the bumbling adventurers as they slog through one of the rainiest Alpine summers in history. There’s something for everyone: travel adventure, comedy of errors, father/son melodrama, scenic descriptions, history, and the occasional piece of advice (usually in the form of “learn from our mistakes”).
Ups & Downs is being released on March 8th and 9th, 2009. Don will launch the book on Sunday, the 8ths, with a reading/signing/sale benefit for the Theater Company of Lafayette (Colorado). David will be doing a separate event in Austin, TX with a book signing at BookPeople. For information about the launch parties and other events, see NEWS.
To find out about the authors, see David Kassin Fried’s Biography or Don Fried’s Biography.
