It’s 1930s Buffalo, New York. The Great Depression rages, and scriptwriter Fran Striker’s job is on the line at WEBR. He must write the pilot for a new radio show but, to do so, he needs to overcome writer's block, defeat a Gypsy curse, foil a plot to assassinate FDR, deal with an insane, alcoholic midget, and recover stolen diamond rings belonging to an equally insane, alcoholic boxing champion.
Who was that masked man? Based on the real-life and often controversial story of The Lone Ranger creator Fran Striker, Yesteryear takes us on a magical journey that led to the iconic hero’s debut, a show that provided hope to Americans during the country’s darkest days. Populated by characters who lived during that era—radio actor John L. Barrett, Mafioso Stefano Magaddino, former boxing champion Jimmy Slattery, and president-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- Eoannou breathes new life into the immortal Lone Ranger and the man who struggled to create him.
"Imagined from the life of the creator of The Lone Ranger, Yesteryear is a magical, magnificent novel strung on the threads of a real man's quest to fight evil, save the day, and lift the world from the clutches of The Great Depression. What Michael Chabon does for Pittsburgh, Eoannou does for Buffalo— in his hands, this battered rust belt city becomes a literary wonderland. There's no way to read this book and not find yourself moved to tears. I absolutely loved it."
—Ashley Warlick
Author of The Arrangement
"This is one of the most entertaining novels I've read in years, with memorable characters and an outstanding plot on so many levels. It's so much more than a page-turner; it will capture your imagination and not let it go!"
—Fred LeBron
Author of Welcome To Christiania
"Steve Eoannou’s Yesteryear reads like a fever dream, but one in which 1930’s Buffalo, New York, is resurrected in such specificity that you’ll believe it never passed on, and what’s more, it’s brought to you in a voice that synthesizes the cadences of a sax solo, a radio play, and a comic noir. Want to learn how a missing pair of men’s diamond-studded rings connects to the Lone Ranger and a plot to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt, read the first page and try to put this compulsively engrossing novel down."
—Daniel Mueller
Author of How Animals Mate and Nights I Dreamed of Hubert Humphrey
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