Customer Reviews

Rocket Man

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

William Elliott Hazelgrove's ROCKET MAN is a brilliant piece of writing, a work that meticulously dissects contemporary life in America with such a keen eye that the author is able to catch at least passing glances at us all. Hazelgrove is a facile, witty, enormously gifted wordsmith, a writer able to find the extraordinary in even the most mundane, ordinary people and places and build a story that, while following a large cast of disparate characters and branches of storylines, manages to pull all the pieces together into one all-encompassing view of a single man and his life changes. This novel of life in the suburbs rings true on every page, takes no prisoners, and yet for this reader fails to encourage us to identify with the goodness in anyone!

Dale Hammer is a writer of successful books - ten dry years ago! His struggle to restore his place in the literary world is fraught with a move into a larger house in the suburbs, a move he cannot afford, and to cope with his lawyer wife who makes taking care of household chores and raising children seem like insurmountable tasks. Little things happen: he is accused by irate neighbors of cutting down the tacky sign that marks his sterile subdivision, his errant father moves in with him (broke and between many wives, still under the impression that he is the catch of the year), and must deal with a community that dumps the role of Rocket Man (organizer for the Scout troop annual show) in his unwilling lap. His income, during this lapse/block in creative writing, comes from a tacky apartment building he owns in which dwell problem renters. His family descends on him and he must cope with the circus that results. Dale bumps headfirst into his life and the conditions that make it almost inoperable and in the process he finds himself and puts at least a temporary turnabout on continuing the marks of influence from his own father that threaten to alter the future of his own son. It is OK to step outside the box of the American Dream!

Reading ROCKET MAN is entertaining, full of chuckles, and flows with beautifully constructed prose from page one to the end. Probably the joke is on us: how can we enjoy a novel that paints such a dreary picture of where we have come in our current society? But it is difficult to care about any of these odd folks. Maybe what we see is really a mirror...Grady Harp, October 08

Rocket Man resonated with me and I think will do so with a wide audience. Some of the hilarious scenes and ancillary characters are necessarily hyberbolic but the main characters are real. Their relationships and trials happen to good people all over, no matter your location or persuasion. Resolution can be found and Rocket Man touches down in the right place.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation...and in ROCKET MAN Hazelgrove manages to capture the transcendent, heart-wrenching and soul-rending quality of a man leading just this kind of life, a life that will be familiar to many entering or moving through mid-life (I count myself among them).

Great writers write what they know, and the life of Dale Hammer, ROCKET MAN's conflicted protagonist, is achingly real. It is clear to the reader that Hazelgrove has gone for broke here, placing all of his emotional cards on the table for all to see, Hammer's messy, messy life a proxy for all those who look back over the landscape of their lives and see every wrong turn, every slip of the foot, every mistake, in clear relief -- yet are unable to change their course or trajectory for knowing.

We all want and hope that occasionally we'll make the RIGHT decisions and go the RIGHT direction and say the RIGHT thing at the RIGHT time...all while being able to hold onto at least a little of the spirit and essence of what it was to be young and indestructible. And in that lies the key to what makes this book so relevant and engaging to the "mass of men" - and women -- and a potential best-seller.

It might not be a requirement that a book's central character be likable, but they should have some kind of meaning for the reader. Dale Hammer, the Rocket Man of Hazelgrove's novel, is not likable and is such a shallow character that the reader is hard pressed to care what happens to him. He is selfish and childish, a bad father, an inattentive husband, a failed writer, a careless landlord and fancies himself a wit. The rest of the book's characters are even less well developed than Dale. Take for example Dale's father, Dale Sr. He is an unlikely combination of Foghorn Leghorn and every smarmy salesman ever written about; to call him cliched is being kind. The writing in this book is horribly simplistic and the story arc is at once predictable and implausible. After reading the dialogue in the book, one wonders if Hazelgrove has ever heard a conversation between two people. Add to this a number of continuity gaffs and it makes for a frustrating read with no payoff.

I had a lot of trouble with this book. I'm not sure it's bad, I just know that the protagonist was so irritating that I couldn't really get beyond him. Dale, a middle aged, struggling author has moved his family to the suburbs to escape the cramped, increasingly violent, bohemian neighborhood he loved before getting married and starting a family. He hates the conservative, cookie-cutter existence he's living and acts out (unconsciously?) against his perceived oppressors - his kids, his wife, and his neighbors. To me Dale is one of those self-absorbed, juvenile, non-communicators who has brought on all of his troubles himself. If he'd just effectively communicate his frustrations and needs to his family (and if they'd do the same) this whole book could have been avoided. I get that there are probably people like this, but I have absolutely no sympathy for them, no do I enjoy reading about them. I wanted to reach through the pages and shake some sense in to Dale. Extremely frustrating. This is the same reason I hated The Dive from Clausen's Pier. For a more satisfying suburban angst read, try Revolutionary Road.

Rocket Man inspired me to think about the choices I have made in my own life. As Dale tries to understand how he landed where he landed, he faces the forces of blame (ie its the house, the community, the job, these people) as the source of anxst, and instead decides to battle the demons of his own making. Through colorful characters and humorous dialogue, Dale begins to take responsibility for his life, understanding his weaknesses, and reflecting about what it means to be a better parent, husband, son and human being. Hazelgrove explores the question of how to be one's own person, in the face of consumerism and a society that continually wants more and pressures us to be of one mind, intead of individuals. The question of how to stand firm against the "group think" and still have the life one wants, is asked and answered. I thought Rocket Man was a delightful, thought provoking ride that looks at human relationships and the difficult choices in life.

Rocket Man is definately a novel of our times. A man moves to the suburbs and finds his life imploding in one week. He is in danger of losing his home, his wife, his cranky Southern father has come to live with him, he has been accused of cutting down the sign to his subdivision, and he has been appointed as Rocket Man of his son't Scout Troop. Dale Hammers life is moving steadily downward and in one week he finds himself facing a new world. I have never read a novel where fiction becomes reality like this one. And it's funny!

This book was one of the funniest and creative looks at suburban life while experiencing a mid-life crisis that I have ever read. The main character, Dale Hammer, is pathetic in a sympathetic and lovable way. He can't seem to do anything right and is on the verge of losing everything that has meaning in his life. Yet, as you read, you begin asking the same question that Dale is asking: "What is important in this life? What impact will it make on the world and even the cosmos?" I highly recommend this book especially if you want a fast-paced and riveting story to read. I loved it!

Hazelgrove has written a relevant novel of our times with "Rocket Man"- many will be able to relate to the feelings and current situation expressed by the main character, Dale Hammer, as he goes through a week in the life of a contemporary suburban father struggling to keep everything afloat while maintaining his own sense of self and worth as a father, provider, husband, and son. There is much humor as well as familiarity in the situations Dale juggles with various family members, written rich in character, that we can all relate to easily. We feel Dale Hammer's frustrations at trying to keep the American dream alive for his family, a situation many families are facing presently. A great read that kept this reader engaged and entertained all the way through to the satisfying conclusion. Pick it up- you won't be disappointed!

Surprisingly, I liked Rocket Man. I hadn't expected to since it appeared the main character would be a man and I usually relate more to a female main character. That being said, Dale Hammer (gotta love the satire!) is the quintessential anti-hero of the modern day suburbs--he's cocky, irreverent, judgmental, sarcastic, cynical AND funny, loving, observant, and most of all, extremely sensitive to people and his environment. He's in a constant state of hyper-alert. When seen through Hammer's "lens," the Chicago suburbs appear to be a wasteland, lacking in intellectual stimulation and human connection.

Hazelgrove's use of dialogue is very real and makes reading Rocket Man effortless. I particularly enjoyed Dale Sr., a lovable, though narcissistic, southern gentleman exuding confidence (arrogance like his son perhaps?). Dale Sr., however, appears to underestimate life and seizes new opportunities with zeal, no matter how unrealistic they might be. Dale Sr.'s charming southern manners and speech make the reader want to hear him talk more in order to probe below his surface and learn more about his problematic relationship with Dale.

I related to Hammer's parenting dilemma about his difficulty in paying the right amount of attention to each of his children, knowing he will always come up short, despite his best intentions. As parents, we must admit that sometimes we ignore our kids even though we know better. Luckily, opportunities for redemption present themselves regularly. The day of the great rocket launch is a testament to any parent's patience and Hammer makes his son proud for his Herculean rocket launching efforts. It's during these father/child vignettes in Rocket Man when the reader is able to penetrate Hanmer's veneer and see him for the loving father that he is.

Rocket Man is a funny, truly laugh out loud funny, satirical novel that points fingers at everyone (at least those living in the suburbs), for everyone in Hammer's world is under indictment. The ending for me was ambiguous, which I thought was appropriate and satisfying given Hammer's varying degrees of self-delusion and clarity. Does Hammer grow as a character? That's up to the reader to decide, but it really doesn't matter, since the "ride" might be the point.