Book Review for "Hawkins County" A Novel of the 1970s - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
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Format:Paperback
Jack Johnson has just graduated from Mankato Stave University
with a sociology degree. Teenager Pat O'Connor doesn't give a rip about school.
Soon the lives of the two intertwine in Steven M. Ulmen's story of changing
lives and changing times during the turbulent 1970s.
If you were growing into adulthood then, the details in Bad Moon Arising will seem all too familiar. From the powder blue leisure suit that Johnson wears for his job interview as a LeSueur County probation officer to the avocado appliances to the many song references, like the book title drawn from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising," this is pure 70s.
Within the story line, you'll follow Johnson as he struggles to deal with rebellious, pot-smoking teens, except for O'Connor, who come under his probationary supervision. On a personal level, he struggles in his relationship with his long-time girlfriend. As you might expect of a 70s novel, Ulmen also tosses the Vietnam War into the mix when Johnson's childhood friend goes off to war.
Ulmen, a retired probation officer, writes with the knowledge of experience, making this fictional book even more believable. Sometimes, though, you simply have to shake your head and ask, "Was it really like this in the 70s?"
Through-out his story, this Mankato author weaves familiar (to Minnesotans) 1970s names and places--the Gibbon Ballroom, Whoopee John Wilfahrt, Chuck Pasek and The John Deere Bandwagon, The Jolly Green Giant...
Some of the sexual content and language in Bad Moon Arising may offend readers. Yet, both are an accurate reflection of the era. At times, though, Ulmen's many references to 1970s songs seem overused and contrived.
That aside, he offers a compelling story that draws readers into a rural Minnesota community, into the courthouse, into the backwoods home of a juvenile delinquent and, sadly, into a car driven by a high-on-weed teen.
(Review written by Audrey Kletscher Helbling and first published in Winter 2011 issue of Minnesota Moments magazine.)
If you were growing into adulthood then, the details in Bad Moon Arising will seem all too familiar. From the powder blue leisure suit that Johnson wears for his job interview as a LeSueur County probation officer to the avocado appliances to the many song references, like the book title drawn from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising," this is pure 70s.
Within the story line, you'll follow Johnson as he struggles to deal with rebellious, pot-smoking teens, except for O'Connor, who come under his probationary supervision. On a personal level, he struggles in his relationship with his long-time girlfriend. As you might expect of a 70s novel, Ulmen also tosses the Vietnam War into the mix when Johnson's childhood friend goes off to war.
Ulmen, a retired probation officer, writes with the knowledge of experience, making this fictional book even more believable. Sometimes, though, you simply have to shake your head and ask, "Was it really like this in the 70s?"
Through-out his story, this Mankato author weaves familiar (to Minnesotans) 1970s names and places--the Gibbon Ballroom, Whoopee John Wilfahrt, Chuck Pasek and The John Deere Bandwagon, The Jolly Green Giant...
Some of the sexual content and language in Bad Moon Arising may offend readers. Yet, both are an accurate reflection of the era. At times, though, Ulmen's many references to 1970s songs seem overused and contrived.
That aside, he offers a compelling story that draws readers into a rural Minnesota community, into the courthouse, into the backwoods home of a juvenile delinquent and, sadly, into a car driven by a high-on-weed teen.
(Review written by Audrey Kletscher Helbling and first published in Winter 2011 issue of Minnesota Moments magazine.)
This review was for the book "Bad Moon Arising" which has been retired. The same story exists in paperback and ebook under the title "Hawkins County." Purchase your copy in the format of your choice at Lulu.com at the following link. The epub, paperback, or ebook are the first three listed.
For kindle users the story is available at the following link:
For nook users the story is available at the following link:
posted by Lance @ 11:13 AM
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