Fishbein, Ascending injects a paranormal twist into a coming-of-age tale narrated by two boys recalling their mutual bond. This work begins in Italy in 2001, cutting quickly to another bucolic setting (Peck, an enclave south of Wichita) during 1968-71. The “abnormal” element requires reader untangling what’s historical and scientific from what’s surreal. Matt Fishbein, boy scientist, discovers at 13 that he can float – but is that really happening? Is his closest chum, Chago Díaz, a Cuban refugee recently arrived in Peck, the guy he claims to be? (Chago maneuvers out of body experiences from his REM sleep state to record events.) Is Fishbein genuine? Now, if either boy is imagined, are friends and influencers surrounding these pals themselves real – or are they invented? The reader teeters across shifting sands, exploring the porous boundaries distinguishing science, spirituality, and magic while tagging along on the youths’ harrowing experiences. These adventures include: (1) Matt’s test-maneuvering aloft from his home town to a baseball game in Wichita, the warmup for (2) Matt’s soaring journey to Houston’s Mission Control and NASA encounters during the Apollo 11 lunar mission, followed by (3) Matt’s arrest in Texas for driving a stolen rental auto, (4) Matt’s romance during his college astronomy internship at the Papal Observatory outside Rome, and (5) journalist Chago’s self-imprisonment (avoiding Castro’s henchmen) in southeastern Cuba, eluding authorities with help from Matt and a French boatman who’s Matt’s elderly aunt’s lover. (This auntie possessed of her own spiritual floatation gift.)
Growing up, each of us has both an embellished and essentially authentic sense of self. “Maturing” in one sense is fraught with conflict. The embellished self loses ground as one’s genuine nature is adopted. Often, this unresolved youthful conflict results in unhealthy behaviors like persistent self-absorption or serial disappointments producing self-loathing. Fishbein, Ascending surrealistically explores the adolescent’s struggle for self-recognition and acceptance. The extreme “gifts” of the protagonists metaphorically transition them from teenage angst to young adult self-knowledge towards serenity. The boys’ transitions give the thoughtful reader glimpses into her own passage towards stubborn reality, on route exploring the consequence of gratitude, friendship, place attachment, and risk-taking.