Charlie Casso

Going Down and Moving on Charlie Casso

GOING DOWN AND MOVING ON combines narrative, emails, and photographs, to give an Augusten Burroughs meets David LaChapelle-esque account of how one native New Yorker's world comes undone and regenerates during the time period surrounding 9/11. Having just broken up with a drug-addled boyfriend as Summer 2001 begins, Josh Conti thinks the rest of the year will be easy. He works blocks from the WTC, photographs the terrorist attacks on his city as he runs for his life, and documents the pre-9/11 joviality and post-9/11 uncertainty through emails and narrative. Immediately after 9/11, he faces a myriad of ups and downs that include bomb scares, anthrax-laced letters, and threats of job termination. He experiences the demise of a relationship as each party deals with the attack on his city in different ways, and even finds himself stalked by a gay former marine. Acerbic-wit-filled narrative compels readers to laugh their way through fears and toward renewed spirits in Charlie Casso's debut novel.