Barracuda in the Attic
Whether shooting pool with the mobster Crazy Joey Gallo, attending a dinner party hosted by an aged but remarkably spry Groucho Marx, or simply playing doctor with a classmate in the former estate of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kipp Friedman led a colorful childhood. The youngest son of celebrated writer and satirist Bruce Jay Friedman, Kipp looks back fondly on the amusing and sometimes confusing events and encounters that helped shape his early life in this moving tribute to growing up among a family of creative artists swept up in the whirlwind of the New York arts scene of the 1960s and 70s.
Follow Kipp's exploits as bystander and willing participant as he joins older brothers Josh (writer and musician) and Drew (renowned cartoonist and illustrator) as three musketeers on a youthful quest to discover the scariest low-budget horror movies along 42nd Street and Times Square. Delight in their search for classic comic books, monster magazines (and the occasional nudie magazine) at their beloved, dingy Back-Issue Store in midtown Manhattan. Encounter his family s bizarre Cold War-like relationship with their new neighbors in an updated suburban Jewish version of the Hatfields vs. the McCoys. Witness their Marx Brothers-like antics while on an all-expenses-paid junket at the Beverly Hills Hotel courtesy of CBS.
The stage shifts from New York City to the Caribbean to the suburbs of Long Island, and from the South of France to Broadway and Hollywood as Kipp retraces his family's defining moments with the backdrop of his father's meteoric rise from editor of men's adventure magazines to successful novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. Through it all, Kipp paints a loving portrait of a childhood and family life that is both magical and yet familiar and real.
Kipp Friedman
Kipp Friedman is the youngest son of writer Bruce Jay Friedman. A native New Yorker, Kipp holds B.A.s in History and Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He began his career as a reporter and has worked in public relations and marketing. He is also a professional photographer and tennis coach. Kipp and his wife, Anne, live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they have a grown son, Max. Barracuda in the Attic is his first book. Kipp is also a contributing blogger for the Huffington Post.