The Catcher in the Rye for the fortysomethings. Not quite boomers, five years old during Woodstock, missed the sixties revolution and ended up being mellow in the seventies, partied in the eighties, floated in the nineties, then lost it all in the Great Recession. Welcome to the world of Rocket Man. Dale Hammer is stuck in the suburbs with too much house, too much car, too high taxes, and no way out. In one week he is accused of cutting down the sign to his subdivision, plagued with a father who has come to live over his garage, in danger of losing his home, on the hook for being Rocket Man of his son's Scout Troop, staring at the dissolution of his marriage, and trying to give his son a sense of independence. Not since The Graduate has a novel nailed the age we live in. Funny and poignant, you will laugh and cry as Dale looks for an American Dream in retreat.
Rocket Man is a novel that captures a man in hell. Too much house, too much car, too many kids, a worthless home, and a yearning for a simpler more sane time. Sound familiar. It should. Rocket Man is weirdly relevant and if it wasn't so funny it would be a sordid tale indeed. Capturing the generation that thought they could have it all, this might be the first book to define the silent generation between the Boomers and GenXers. "I wanted to find out what happened to the Breakfast Club Generation William Hazelgrove said from his office in the Hemingway house in Oak Park. "And what happened is they got wiped out along with everyone else, except they had bought the big house, had all the kids, and the expensive cars and now that all has come crashing down."
Published by a small Press in Chicago, Sterling and Ross picked up the book after a strong web following and strong word of mouth sales. The Rocket is due to blast off April 26th.
Contact:
Drew Nederpelt
Sterling & Ross Publishers
115 W 29th St Floor 3
New York, NY 10001
212-244-2084
