Brown Books Publishing Group Publishes Road-Trip Novel Perfect for Summer Reading
2024年5月25日 - 6:17AM
ビジネスワイヤ(英語)
In Flightless Falcon, debut author James Charles Smith guides
readers down I-70 on a nostalgic coming-of-age adventure.
Reminiscent of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, with elements of Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Smith’s novel delicately portrays the
varied nuances of American political beliefs during the late
Vietnam War era.
Flightless Falcon explores the Baby Boomer psyche at a time when
the threat of Communism loomed from the East and the nuclear button
was at the hands of military leaders across the globe. This was the
world inherited by the then-largest generation in American history
and the lens through which the main character—Sam Roberts—has to
find himself as a young man.
Only a year into the Air Force Academy, Roberts resigns, his
father furious, his mother understanding but unsupportive. All Sam
knows is that he doesn’t believe in the US’s involvement in
Vietnam. Leaving his girlfriend and the Academy behind in Colorado,
Sam hitchhikes across Interstate 70 all the way home to
Missouri.
Along the way, he meets Hispanic youths driving to a
quinceañera; retired WWII vets who have differing opinions on the
war; a hippie who just left the service; and a same-sex California
couple. Each ride freshens Sam’s perspective on the war and
American ideals of his time period. All the while readers are
immersed in the tie-dye, rock ’n’ roll, anti-war, free-love
mentality that saw the world through the dreams of what it could
become.
“So much has changed in some ways, and so little has changed in
others ... I hope to share the kindness and empathy of [my]
characters and how respect, tolerance and understanding can help
us, especially in troubled times.” —James Charles Smith
AUTHOR BIO: Born in Texas, James Charles Smith traveled widely
as a US Air Force brat. He attended college at the United States
Air Force Academy and resigned during his first year, which served
as the inspiration for Flightless Falcon. Smith earned his
bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of
Missouri–Columbia. He worked for ten years as a writer, editor,
cameraman, producer and director before returning to school. After
attaining an engineering degree he became a consultant to the
Electric Power Research Institute. Currently he lives with his wife
and his dog, Abel, in the foothills of Georgia’s Blue Ridge
Mountains.
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