ROCKET MAN

By William E. Hazelgrove

What they're saying...

"The book's artist hero, writer Dale Hammer, does battle with the benighted conformity of bourgeois suburban culture. Saddled with a house and a life he can’t afford, Dale has alienated his wife and family trying to have his cake and eat it too. Dale’s incisive narration of his rebellion against his stagnating life is the constant engine that drives this story. As his life crumbles around him all seems lost for Dale, but he is inspired to an ultimate act of defiance that redeems him. The description of this writer’s life is funny and meaningful. This critically insightful diatribe against conformity is recommended.”
- Library Journal

“Rocket Man is a charming tale of fatherhood, family, and the American dream.”
- Midwest Book Review

"The funniest serious novel since Richard Russo’s Straight Man, rich with the epic levity of John Irving and salted with the perversion of Updike." - Chicago Sun Times

About the Author

William Elliott Hazelgrove was born in Richmond, Virginia, but has also resided in Baltimore, Maryland and Chicago, Illinois. Hazelgrove earned a Bachelors of Arts in History and a Masters of Arts in History from Western Illinois University. His first novel, Ripples, was published in 1992 and was named “Editor’s Choice” by the American Library Association. His second novel, Tobacco Sticks, has been translated into many languages and optioned for film. Currently, Hazelgrove is the Writer in Residence for the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and writes from Ernest Hemingway’s attic in Oak Place, Illinois. Hazelgrove runs a political-cultural blog called A View from Hemingway’s Attic. When he’s not writing in Hemingway’s attic (pictured, right) he is spending time with his wife, three children, dog, cat, guinea pig, and Beta fish.