A friend loaned me this book. He had read another of West's novels, Amos: To Ride a Dead Horse and found the writing so compelling that he bought this book as well. He knew I'd enjoy it because I appreciate quality writing, I like to read about small towns, farm communities, characters of the Northwest, and I taught for 34 years and coached for 26. He was correct. As a basketball coach I can say that this is one of the best book I've ever read!
After reading the first chapter, I had to sit it down. It was so good that I realized I'd have to read it straight through. Most of the books I've read average about 250 pages, but this one had 539. I knew it was going to be a real commitment of time. I do read slowly, and I realized this would take me about a week. It did and I was thoroughly engrossed in the story throughout that week. I felt and still feel as if I'm in this mythical, central Montana, diminutive bump in the road. I feel like a Willow Creekian!
The protagonist, the coach in this story, has his share of ghosts in the closet, problems, and issues that haunt his every move. His childhood humiliation raises its ugly head almost every time that he starts to feel the angst of a win, a lead, a game slipping away from his control. There are also numerous anxious events that aren't under his control. With such a small school and so many problems of the populous, the coach is never sure if he'll have enough players to start each game. In fact, before the season his administrator was ready to throw in the towel and forfeit the entire schedule.
But the life-changing event that affected the psyche of the coach the most: the tragic death of his wife. He often commiserated her death, his loss of life and love, and the realization that it could all end. He knew that the life of any individual, in his circle of friends and students, could be abruptly ended at any time. That feeling of impending doom keeps the reader on the edge throughout the novel.
The attention to detail, development of characters, scenes, plots, and back stories are the best I've seen. Stanley Gordon West captured this reader's heart; I'm convinced he's a literary genius. Besides the phenomenal character development, I was amazed that the basketball games were practiced and played just as a long-time coach would know and feel about them, but remarkably, West has never coached.
This is not a highly distributed book so I can only assume that West isn't interested in the pedestrian art of marketing, so I feel as if my friends and I have discovered a hidden literary treasure. Buy this book, read it, and you'll feel the same way.
Consider my newest historical, World War II, creative non-fiction book: Dismounted Liberty, under the pen name Chris Gregory. It's now available in paperback through Amazon or ask for it at your local book store. It's also available in kindle format from Amazon and can be easily obtained and read on your iPhone. Dismounted Liberty, in that eBook edition on Amazon, will soon be free for a few days.
Learn by going to http://www.BuckshotPie.com and, once there, you can click on the Amazon button or the Author's Page link. Have a happy 2015!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_E_Gregory
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8907563
No comments:
Post a Comment