Restrung

Fatherhood in a Different Key

Matt Fogelson

• Publisher: SparkPress
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781684633432
• Subtopic: Biografías religiosas

Weaving the author’s coming of age in 1980s New York with his life as a father today, this Nick Hornby–meets–Cheryl Strayed debut memoir examines father-son relationships, the pain of early parent loss, and the importance of embracing your passions.

For nearly fifteen years, Matt Fogelson didn’t recognize how deeply the early death of his workaholic father had affected him. Then he had a son of his own and the floodgates opened, helping him realize that even deeper than the wound left by his father’s death were the wounds inflicted by his absence while alive.

Restrung follows Fogelson from his beginnings as a music-loving kid combing through vinyl in Greenwich Village, through his struggles to overcome his grief during young adulthood, and into becoming a man who is startled by the reemergence of his long-suppressed passion for music after becoming a father. Told with humor, grief, and hope, it’s the story of a passionate music lover’s effort to break free of the real and imagined constraints standing between him and his best life—an effort that ultimately allows Fogelson’s son to know his father in a way Fogelson never knew his.

Funny and deeply honest, Restrung is a balm for every father and son fortunate enough to still have each other in their lives. It will inspire readers to try to cross the emotional gulf that seems almost endemic to the father-son relationship and finally break through to one another.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Oakland, California 2005
• 1. Don’t Speak of It
• 2. Presence of an Absence
• 3. The Unasked Questions
• 4. Talk About the Passion
• 5. Listening for the Stillness
• 6. Should I Stay or Should I Go?
• 7. I’ll Hold the Pain
• 8. Girls and Guitars
• 9. The Sound(garden) and the Fury
• 10. Time to Admit Defeat
• 11. Don’t Climb an Apple Tree in Search of Oranges
• 12. More Than a Springsteen Ticket
• 13. Like Father, Like Son?
• 14. Just Tell the Truth
• 15. It’s About Everything
• 16. The Vagabond Rapping at Your Door
• 17. A Dog Forever Chasing Its Tail
• 18. What It Means To Be a Father
• 19. Release Me
• 20. A Father’s Most Precious Gift: Himself
• 21. Hail, Hail Rock ’n’ Roll
• Oakland, California 2009
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Permissions
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