This novel is a nostalgic look back at the Long Island, NY, and New York City area circa the early 1960's, when the baby boomers were in high school. The central focus of the novel is a setting in Williston Park, Long Island, New York a small town of about 8,000 people in central Nassau County.
The action of the novel is uniquely designed to take the reader through the fictional chronicles of the life and times of “Buck” Rawlins, the central character, and his family and friends during this period in the history of the United States. Each chronicle is intertwined with the actual historical events of the time and the popular music of the period, and captures a lot of the Americana in those high school wonder years of the early 1960's.
The action takes the reader, sometimes actually speeding across Long Island roadways and settings from Williston Park and Mineola at the center of the Island; to Jones Beach on the south; to Sands Point, NY to the north; and, then, into New York City, including Queens and the Bronx. Readers familiar with Long Island will recognize some of the venues there where the rollicking action takes place, including, the Westbury Drive-In Movie Theatre; the Roslyn Country Club; the Weigand Brothers Funeral Home and Hildebrandt's Restaurant and Luncheonette in Williston Park; the fictionalized Catholic High School, “Prominade” in Mineola, reminiscent of the present day and the preeminent “Chaminade” Catholic High School still existing since 1930 in Mineola, NY. The author describes this setting in all its colorful detail and charm of this period piece.
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