For years, the boys at St. Bernadette School have proven their mettle by playing a highly addictive and occasionally violent schoolyard game known as Free the Man. In a daily ritual barely tolerated by the teachers, the Runners and the Catchers battle for supremacy and settle old scores on a cratered patch of asphalt. The game becomes so popular that the undisputed king of Free the Man, local legend Tommy Castiglione, tries to construct an official players manual—a rulebook for the game that has no rules.
Years later, an old friend who grew up in Tommy's shadow rediscovers the manual and takes it upon himself to finish what the greatest Runner of all time started. In doing so, he delves into the insular world of his suburban Philadelphia hometown, revealing the joy, madness, and random cruelty of childhood. Part rulebook, part social commentary, part confession, Free the Man is the story of growing up, fighting back, and letting go.
Robert Repino grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. After serving in the Peace Corps (Grenada 2000–2002), he earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Emerson College. His fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize among other awards, and has appeared in The Literary Review, Night Train, Hobart, Juked, Word Riot, The Furnace Review, The Coachella Review, JMWW, and the anthology Brevity and Echo (Rose Metal Press). Repino is the pitcher for the Oxford University Press softball team and quarterback for the flag football team, but his business card says that he’s an Editor. His debut novel Mort(e), a science fiction story about a war between animals and humans, was published by Soho Press in 2015. His novella Leap High Yahoo was published as an Amazon Kindle Single later that year.
Cover design by Kerry Ellis.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Years later, an old friend who grew up in Tommy's shadow rediscovers the manual and takes it upon himself to finish what the greatest Runner of all time started. In doing so, he delves into the insular world of his suburban Philadelphia hometown, revealing the joy, madness, and random cruelty of childhood. Part rulebook, part social commentary, part confession, Free the Man is the story of growing up, fighting back, and letting go.
Robert Repino grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. After serving in the Peace Corps (Grenada 2000–2002), he earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Emerson College. His fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize among other awards, and has appeared in The Literary Review, Night Train, Hobart, Juked, Word Riot, The Furnace Review, The Coachella Review, JMWW, and the anthology Brevity and Echo (Rose Metal Press). Repino is the pitcher for the Oxford University Press softball team and quarterback for the flag football team, but his business card says that he’s an Editor. His debut novel Mort(e), a science fiction story about a war between animals and humans, was published by Soho Press in 2015. His novella Leap High Yahoo was published as an Amazon Kindle Single later that year.
Cover design by Kerry Ellis.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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