Description

Elba Kramer tells the story of his first seventeen years the only way he knows how: through a mask. From a childhood spent dodging the heavy truths of small-town America to the pivotal moment he dropped out, became a father, and sought refuge in the military—this is a life lived in the blur between memory and invention.

Written as an autobiographical novel, this story reaches for an emotional honesty that only a pseudonym could provide. It is a memoir built on a paradox: that sometimes, we have to lie about our names to tell the truth about our lives.

Told in a voice that's by turns funny, furious, and disarmingly tender, Elba Kramer invites you to wander the landscape of a jagged youth. It is a story where every exaggeration hides a secret, and every truth has teeth.

A Note from the Author: I wrote this book under the name Elba Kramer because I found it impossible to tell the story as myself. While the name on the cover is a fabrication, the experiences within—from birth to my seventeenth year—are 97% true. This is the story of how I became a man, a father, an airman, an officer, and a writer... told through the only lens that allowed me to be completely honest. It is a confession disguised as a lie.