There You Feel Free

The story of five people, whom you might call hipsters.

The Kid struggles to put his life together after his relationship, and the economy, falls apart. Cheyenne tries to define herself against the members of her kickball team. Doug faces isolation amid his long list of online friends. Paul attends a support group for struggling geniuses. And Nick battles the sinister feeling that life isn’t going as planned.

They all cross paths inside and outside a poem—a loving rewrite of T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” refinished with contemporary references to indie music and pop culture. Packed with laughter, levity, reflection, and revolution, There You Feel Free captures the intricate quandary of the Millennial Generation.

Published by: 1888center’s Black Hill Press, and reissued by Spaceboy Books LLC

First Edition, 2015,
Black Hill Press

Available in paperback and ebook with the follow retailers:

Bookshop.org
Amazon.com
Better World Books

There You Feel Free does an exceptional job of balancing open satire with an incredible amount of honesty, and the ability to impact the reader in a way that feels real.”
– Dani Hedlund, F(r)iction

“In the tradition of Nabokov’s Pale Fire and David Foster Wallace’s meta-commentary-as-novel, Nate Ragolia brilliantly updates T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” for a contemporary, post-ironic era marked by continual uncertainty, dissatisfaction, and borderline peril. Ragolia captures the urban, “hipster” landscape with compelling prose and dry humor; in the process, he pays tribute to the wit and complexity of Eliot while also forging a new path that could only be beaten through this creative and inspiring remix.”
– Jen Moore, author of The Veronica Maneuver, Smaller Ghosts, and Easy Does It

There You Feel Free is unlike any other book I have ever read. It is the perfect homage to T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land” embedded with the struggles of five hipsters: The Kid, Cheyenne, Nick, Paul and Doug. Ragolia crafts a beautiful poem filled with love, heartbreak, anger, regret and wit. Alone this poem would have been simply an insightful homage to T.S. Eliot; however, Ragolia artfully included footnotes filled with vivid, in-depth scenes that magnifies a Millennial’s (also known as Generation Y or the Me Generation) struggle. The intricate scenes found in There You Feel Free felt similar to a Jim

Jarmusch, day-in-the-life film—a gritty display of young adulthood shared with the perfect Instagram filter. There You Feel Free is truly a testament to the human condition—our ability to have passion and the desire to do great things, but live in a society that only wants to see us fail.”
– Amanda Moses, The Spring Creek Sun

“There are distant echoes of other voices—Allen Ginsberg’s and, at other times, Jack Kerouac. But Nate Ragolia dances to a different Beat. Small wonder that both the poetry and prose is seemingly scored in a musical context—concerts, DJs, all chased by riffs of cheap beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon), games and gamers, cigarettes and reefers. In the clouds of this smoke and mirrors are a herd of hipsters, haunted by a despair of sorts— drowned dreams, unrequited ambitions, near-delusional self- images and aspirations defined by a world that will neither accept nor absorb them—all but swallowed up by techno- terrorism in an Aldous Huxley-like electronic Erewhon world of screens, sites and indecipherable algorithms of a seemingly alien planet. Worse, in an effort not to ‘sell out,’ they come to the conclusion that it is they who are the ‘aliens’. They are right, of course. They are misfits in that world. But hope springs eternal expressed in a monologue of sorts by the principal protagonist railing against a ‘nowhere’ and a numbness of the mind and soul.”
– Diane Root, painter, The New York Times Magazine published writer, and editor

“Pitch perfect prose. This is good— surprisingly, solidly good. It’s the type of art that is incredibly difficult to carry off without falling into the quagmire of self-indulgent work— the kind that inspire parody accounts on twitter. But not so here. This is the genuine article. This is amazingly well composed, with pithy one-liners and stabbing social commentary. It explores what it means to be a millennial, and to feel self- inhibited, and to think life would be easier than it turned out to be. This work really is…well…genius.”
– Al, Amazon Reviewer

There You Feel Free is the most creative book I have ever read. Many good writers are capable of writing a novel, many good poets may be capable of replicating in a contemporary context the greatest poem of the twentieth century, “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot, but only Nate Ragolia has assembled all of these elements into one thin volume. I feel lucky to have been introduced to it right as it was launched. This is not a book to simply be read, it is a book to savor, to study, to comprehend, and that is what I have been doing.”
– Carl H. Slater, Amazon Reviewer

“This young man can just flat out write, and from an old school guy like me, that is high praise! The journey from the poetry to the terrifically entertaining and thought-provoking notes was not simple, but then I am quite certain that it was not meant to be. As much as I enjoyed this book, I will read it again in hard copy, as I did struggle to with my Kindle to do the “back and forth” work that makes this book so worthwhile. I eagerly await the next work by Mr. Ragolia; he is a real talent!!”
– Holly Stabler, Amazon Reviewer

“Ragolia is a modern humorist with an eye for sardonic social critique. This is such a clever and timely book. I loved and loathed the characters foibles and self-indulgent themes.”
– Drew, Amazon Reviewer

“An engrossing and innovative first novel, don’t miss it!”
– Indybend, Amazon Reviewer

“I read this book three times in three different ways, each time finding new layers of meaning (like a choose your own adventure book, a relic of millennial nostalgia). The book is as refreshing as it is innovative in storytelling. The book is as raw as it is calculated, as reflective as it is existential. The author successful captures T.S. Eliot du jour, making a name for himself in the process.”
– Carrie, Amazon Reviewer

“A fantastic idea, executed with grace and generosity. There you feel free presents itself as a hipster rewrite of T.S. Elliot’s The Waste Land, and it turns out that it’s uniquely suited to conveying the angst-ridden pointlessness of a generation’s affectation and fears… but the real genius comes in the end- notes to the poem, which contain four deep and rich stories of lives seeking meaning without believing in it. You’ll read it though the first time, then go back and reconnect all the parts, and it’s a new delight at every reading. A remarkable work, funny yet poignant, disillusioned yet positive.”
– Antoine Valot, designer, author of “On Arrival, A Bouquet” and other short stories

“This book was a wonderful read. The characters all represent very relatable characteristics and emotions that I feel we all experience to some degree or another and it exposes a very powerful question and dilemma that I know I have felt for myself. The experience was very human. I recommend this book to everyone it was insightful, and spoke well to my generation. It was poetic, insightful, hilarious, grounding and warming. Definitely not a book to miss.”
– Taylor, Amazon Reviewer

There You Feel Free is an insightful and compelling portrait of life as a Millennial. I found everything the author wrote about to be strangely familiar. He knew all the ‘cool’ music and how everyone ‘cool’ talks about the ‘cool’ music; the neurosis of hipster culture. He discussed, in a very realistic manner, the tension that this generation has between not wanting to be a ‘sell out once you have achieved success’ vs. actually succeeding. His characters all seemed like people I know, or almost knew. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it to everyone. I’ve never read anything quite like this before.”
– Amazon Reviewer

“Ragolia’s poetry draws from rich cultural significance. He does this while referring to footnotes that allow you to play along with his flights of whimsy. The prose that follows is a humane look at the inner lives of Generation Y. His book explores contemporaneous thought through an adoring lens.”
– John, Amazon Reviewer

“A true original, grounded voice. Nate captures our slice in time perfectly, illuminating a generation’s internal life as well as the external expression in an age of abbreviated, cloistered communication. There’s a clear, beating heart at the book’s core and the affection he has toward his characters is genuine. You will find yourself, perhaps a younger version, in the pages.”
– Marcus, Amazon Reviewer

“Ragolia’s “There You Feel Free” is a love letter to the generation he is a part of. His style and story hit at the heart and mind of what it means to struggle with identity and purpose in modern society. A must read for everyone because everyone is in it!”
– Kathleen Boysen, Amazon Reviewer

“Everyone will find a piece of themselves in one of the characters.”
– Daniel Ramos, localbroadcasting.tv

“Not only is this a remix of Eliot, but also a series of interwoven stories in the footnotes. Somehow, he pulled this off and it was fantastic. The back reads that it is an exploration of what it is to be a hipster millennial / gen z. He got it right, down to the pretension. Yes, parts of me are reflected, but I felt it was just enough near satire, that I could be reminded of try hard friends I have, and be amused and annoyed at them at once. I am also impressed with the way the stories were interwoven.”
– Emma, Goodreads Reviewer

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