RECENT POSTS
-
Third Review of Straw Shoes
Excerpts from a beautiful review by Rose Auburn 5 Stars! Freese originally wrote Straw Shoes in his early 30s. Some fifty years later, he revisited it, a much older man with five decades of lived experience effectively co-authoring with his younger self. Freese seamlessly blends youthful energy with elderly wisdom. This fascinating cross-era collaboration has not only brought a spellbinding story to light but also added profound nuance to the narrative. Indeed, dualities, dichotomies, and pairings in all their figurative and literal guises permeate Straw Shoes. The novel opens with Ah Ling walking in his fields, a sense of philosophical…
-
Second Review of Straw Shoes
5 Stars! Review by Noémie Media Mathias B. Freese’s Straw Shoes is a remarkable literary achievement that transcends the boundaries of historical fiction to become something far more profound. It is a meditation on duality, resilience, and the eternal human struggle between surrender and defiance. Freese, a teacher, psychotherapist, and author of ten books, has crafted what may very well be his finest work to date, a novel that speaks in a voice both youthful and ancient, shaped by decades of introspection and hard-won wisdom. The story follows Ah Ling, a 19th century Chinese farmer who makes the fateful decision…
-
First Review of Straw Shoes
A special thank you to Grady Harp for this thoughtful review of my latest and final work, Straw Shoes. ‘The humble earth may outlast defiant rock’ – An eloquent journey in time “Mathias B. Freese earned his degrees from Queens College of the City University of New York and Stony Brook University, and is a teacher, a psychotherapist, and a writer who has authored ten books – THE i TETROLOGY, DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA, THAT MOBIUS STRIP OF IFS, I TRULY LAMENT: WORKING THROUGH THE HOLOCAUST, TESSENTE: A MEMOIR OF TWO SUMMERS, AND THEN I AM GONE: A WALK…