Freak: Memoir of an Outcast: Abandoned at birth because of an infection that ravaged his face, Shulman begins a life of surgeries. Meeting his birth ... portrait of the indomitable human spirit.

FREAK: Memoir of an Outcast is the author’s improbable but true story. When only days old, an infection attacks the author’s face, destroying his nose, lower lip, eyelid, and upper palate. Abandoned at the hospital by his parents and made a ward of the state of New Jersey, he is placed under the care of a state-employed surgeon who experimentally re-builds his face. Beginning what would become decades of reconstructive surgeries and skin grafts, Howard Shulman embarks on an unforgettable journey to find his place in the world. With street smarts and humor, bullied and outcast, he defies all odds by rising from dishwasher to successful entrepreneur. An unexpected twist of fate leads him to his birth mother — a chance event that drives home the lesson of what it will cost him if he doesn’t make peace with the past. By turns heart wrenching and funny, Howard’s story is a testament to the human spirit. FREAK will resonate with readers long after the final page.