It’s September 1967. As the Vietnam War and a militant Antiwar Movement hurtle toward explosive confrontation, Steve Harris – white, idealistic, and naïve -- begins his freshman year. During that year, he will fight to end the war, fall in love, confront painful truths about his family, and be jailed and beaten by police. Through this crucible, he emerges with a transformed consciousness, of the world and of himself.
The change begins with a rousing antiwar speech delivered by Emma Gold, a Depression-era radical. When Emma introduces him to Cat Crawford -- inter-racial, brilliant and exotically beautiful – his bewitching is complete. The two students’ instant friendship blossoms before long into a passionate love affair. Their bond is tested, though, by the mounting demands of the Antiwar and Black Power Movements, and by their own deep-seated psychological issues. 1968 is marked by campus unrest, urban rebellion, assassinations, and political violence that leads the two into clashes with the Chicago Police and the National Guard. The story builds to a heartrending climax during the street battles surrounding the Democratic National Convention. It’s a complex, fast-paced journey on an emotional roller coaster, punctuated by flashes of self-discovery, and bursting with political and sexual passions.
Get It Here: RIOT on Kindle
CHARLES S. ISAACS has been a schoolteacher, college professor, social activist, community organizer, financial analyst, ghostwriter, Congressional aide, gambler, real estate consultant, storyteller and occasional journalist. His undergraduate studies were in Mathematics (LIU-Brooklyn), after which he attended the University of Chicago Law School. His later graduate work was in the Social Sciences, earning an M.A. (New School for Social Research) and a Ph.D. (The Union Institute & University). In recent decades, he has been a commercial real estate broker and adviser, exclusively representing New York non-profits.
In his late 60s, he wrote two books about the late 1960s: Inside Ocean Hill-Brownsville: A Teacher's Education, 1968-69 (non-fiction) and RIOT: A 1960s Love Story (a novel). His second novel is currently seeking representation. He currently resides in Newburgh, New York.
