PINBALL: Remembrances of a Flaneur

About the Book

Marshall Barber shares an unfiltered account of what it was like growing up in the 1960s, coming to terms with his own sexuality while seeking refuge from psychological turmoil by playing pinball. The game is a metaphor for the random rewards and punishments of a disordered universe, including the author’s near-death after a drunken car wreck. Somehow, he survived the accident—only to outrun a Kansas tornado, help a charismatic politician get out of politics, and lend aid to an addicted painter trying to regain her art. Later, a reckless attempt to act out sexually sends him spiraling into a surreal, Twilight Zone–like moment. In an Edward Hopper–style twist of fate, his sexuality seems to slip into one of the painter’s lonely, dreamlike scenes—liberating him from a character flaw he had long believed was impossible to overcome. What follows is a chain of events that carries the mood and moral tension of The Great Gatsby and Casablanca, where longing, loyalty, and timing collide in a way that ultimately brings the affair to a dramatic close.

About the Author

Marshall Barber survived the 1960s and 1970s as a rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey whose proclivities frequently mirrored those of the Dionysian artists whose records he aired on the radio. He has been active in politics and sells real estate when he’s not playing pinball.