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Rocket Man

William Elliott Hazelgrove
Pantonne Press, Inc. (2008)
ISBN 9780615213071
Reviewed by Mary Durfor for RebeccasReads (11/08)

With thanks to Sir Elton John, the song “Rocket Man” played in the back of my mind during my entire association with this fabulous novel of the same name. I finally had to give up and looked up all of the words, so I could stop replaying the only phrases I was sure of over and over.

The haunting quotes at the beginning of each chapter from the annals of space were eerie, and in my mind I could hear the familiar voice of “Major Tom” and those of the actual manned space flights from Houston and Cape Canaveral – now Cape Kennedy so many years later. The quotes served as apt predictors of the action in each chapter of the novel.

The empathy felt for Rocket Man is intensified with each new event that unfolds. The sterility of the ostentatious neighborhood; the seven gasping, dying trees in the yard; the Scout leaders who cut him no slack; the ridiculous feud (or was it?) within the neighborhood association – all of these lead the reader into a fondness for Dale that continues to grow. The untimely entrance of Dale Senior deepens the reader’s affection for Dale and chagrin at his Southern, racially charged antics.

The raw unhappiness of Dale and Wendy transplanted to suburbia, where their Democratic, messy souls collide with everyone else, is painful and touching. Dale Senior interjects his crazy take on the world into the misery that is the American, upper-middle class, over-extended, McMansion-dwelling life, and the reader cannot stop hoping for some kind of relief.

William Elliott Hazelgrove’s tight writing style and wide knowledge of historical and current political events were interjected into the scenes in a meaningful way, and added to the pleasure of reading this book. The author’s character development is engaging, and his characters, Dale’s brother Elliott; his current wife, Apollonian; Wendy’s parents; Dale’s two children, Angela and Dale, Jr.; as well as his unseen boss, whom he only relates to via phone, are unforgettable.

“Rocket Man” is a terrific look into an unsettled marriage, childhood, family, life, and unfinished business . . . and I am now anxiously awaiting Hazelgrove’s fifth book.

    

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