Hot Times During the Cold War: An American Comes of Age in West Germany [Paperback]

Scott Hawley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2007

From 1985 to 1988, Scott W. Hawley, the son of a U.S. Air Force officer, lived on Rhein Main Air Force Base, a bustling U.S. military installation located in the heart of what was then West Germany. One of six hundred children of U.S. military personnel attending Frankfurt American High School, he lived the unique experience of being an American teenager in Germany during the Cold War.

While Hawley and his friends studied calculus and chemistry and sold candy bars to send the track team to Brussels, their parents commanded tank battalions, flew transport aircraft, and honed their combat skills. Hawley came of age in a community preparing for Armageddon, yet he reveled in the wondrous “so-what” cacophony of stoners, drama geeks, skaters, letter-jacket athletes, and break-dancers.

A memoir in poetic verse, Hot Times during the Cold War artfully captures the energy of “living on the edge” at a time when the world held its collective breath.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Emory University, Scott W. Hawley is the author of Frohes Wandern and coauthor of Museums of Atlanta. After serving in the U.S. Army, Hawley finished climbing all fifty-four of the fourteen-thousand-foot mountains in Colorado. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, Portia, and their son Luke.

Product Details

• Paperback: 90 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (August 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595442331
• ISBN-13: 978-0595442331
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,924,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Genius, October 3, 2007

By 

Luke "Scooter" Libby - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Times During the Cold War: An American Comes of Age in West Germany (Paperback)

With "Hot Times During The Cold War" Hawley immediately establishes himself with the likes of Lowell, Bukowski, & Ginsberg as a modern American poet of the first order.

His work successfully intertwines themes & structures from a variety of 20th century movements - the Confessional, Beats, and San Francisco Renaissance.

The collection is a celebration of the individual - often at odds with the various groups (family, military, American) he remains loyal too. Hawley expertly crafts American specific imagery and idiomatic structures to capture the essence of the American experience abroad.

This is a must have for any bookshelf.

- Luke "Scooter" Libby

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Times During the Cold War: An American Comes of Age in West Germany, December 27, 2007

By 

Michelle Faldoski "LaCaille 86" (Flowery Branch, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Times During the Cold War: An American Comes of Age in West Germany (Paperback)

What a wonderful experience I had reading this book! As a 1986 graduate of Frankfurt American High School the pages of this book took me back to a time when my life changed forever! Whether or not you are a graduate of FAHS, life as an American teen in Germany is written within these pages. Those of us who experienced our teen life in Europe can relate to this book word for word! I cried, I laughed, and I cried and laughed again! What a wonderful trip down memory lane, the 'Frankfurt family' is going to love this one!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hawley nailed it!, December 12, 2007

By 

FAHS Brat (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Times During the Cold War: An American Comes of Age in West Germany (Paperback)

After graduating from Frankfurt American High School in 1978, I started college at the University of Florida. My entire freshman year was consumed by people asking me what it was like to spend high school in a foreign country on a US military base. And quite honestly, it was so many things, big and small, that I always gave them very simple answers. I didn't feel like I could do the experience justice, so I never articulated all the things that I wanted to say about it. The good times...the bad times...the fear...the joy...all the things Scott W. Hawley has put into Hot Times. This book is a revelation! It has brought back so many incredible memories for me. And now I also have my answer. The next time someone asks me what it was like to spend my high school years in Germany, I am going to hand them a copy of this book.