Larry Rodness’ first book, Today I Am A Man (Savant Books), opens with an uncomfortable scene: a man in his 50s beating up on a teenager outside a high school to avenge his son.

After reading the book’s explosive opening chapter, you start to get glimpses into the psyche of Steven Goldman, the book’s protagonist.

He’s a man haunted by his past; a victim of bullying and abuse – both physical and mental – by the designs of his peers, and he’s a loving father and husband trying to come to terms with his demons.

In a recent interview with The CJN, Rodness explained that though the characters are fictional, the story is really “80 per cent biographical” and that the Goldman character is based on his own experiences as a youth.

In the book, Goldman recounts how his family moved from Toronto to Los Angeles for three years at the behest of his father in order to try to live the American dream.

Rodness’ family did the same thing in 1963.

“My family thought we were going to the land of opportunity,” Rodness said. Instead, his family eked out a meagre living before finally returning to Toronto “defeated, with our tails between our legs.”

In the book, young Goldman, the transplanted high schooler describes trying to fit into the surfer culture of 1960s Los Angeles. He befriends a gang of delinquent youths in high school to become one of the popular boys.

In the process, he discovers a love of music and more importantly, his own moral fibre.

Goldman’s newfound friends turn out to have their own agendas and revel at misleading and tormenting the naive Jewish kid from Canada, getting him into trouble as often as they can.

His one solace is the love of a girl who lives next door, who supports him through each new crisis of faith and friendship.

Rodness, a Toronto musician, said he originally wrote the story as a screenplay and has been shopping it around to gauge interest from filmmakers.

“One of the life lessons I learned [while living in L.A. as a youth] was how to deal with a bully,” he said, adding that readers of his book will find it’s all about “sexual awakenings, learning respect for women… [and] realizing that if you’re fortunate in life, you find the right person to grow with.”

He said he let family members read the manuscript before publishing it and that he was happy they were all “OK with it.”

The title comes from the often uttered phrase used by bar mitzvah boys in their thank-you speeches.

“Every kid says, ‘Today I am a man,’ but not every kid understands what this means as a bar mitzvah,” Rodness said, adding that his experiences at that age taught him that one doesn’t get something for nothing, and that you shouldn’t always look for the “easy way” in life.

He said that every child experiences some type of bullying in their formative years, parents need to face this fact and not run from it. It’s a lesson he hopes readers will take away from the book.

Today I Am A Man is available on Amazon.com and locally at Israel’s, The Judaica Centre, and Batner Bookstore.