Waltz Against the Sky

Download or read book Waltz Against the Sky written by Glen Larum and published by . This book was released on 2016-04-30 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glen Larum's introductory novel, Waltz Against the Sky, is a tour de force in modern western realism that explores the fates awaiting young men who leave home behind for various reasons and venture out into the world. Evan Blaine, an out-of-work country newspaper editor, finds himself seizing another chance for a new start; Dink Downs, who has lost his first regular job on a road crew, gets swept along by his older brother, Del, an ex-con who has agreed to drive across country to deliver an automobile for a cellmate; and teen-ager Tony Angione is hitch-hiking from New Jersey to California to see if he can find himself, employment, and a future. The paths of these four are all destined to converge in West Texas, where they bump up against each other and the people whom strangers are most likely to encounter in a strange place, people in the professional hospitality business and law enforcement officials who administer justice in their own way. As Waltz Against the Sky begins, that world is turned upside down by an uncommon incident -an oddly violent breakout from an unlocked jail- and events seem to spiral out of control from that moment. A flashback layering technique featuring varying viewpoints carries the reader along as the characters reach their appointments with destiny. While many of the encounters with the ordinary population -particularly Blaine's and Angione's- seem to affirm a basic goodness in people, there is an underlying tension that plays out to an unexpected end. Told in a laconic western voice, the story uses distinctive narrative variation to weave different perspectives of past and present into plainsong about ordinary people dancing with fate, yet rarely recognizing their partner. The novel makes a powerful case that while randomness calls the tune in life, it is the moral ambiguity of people in power that provides the sheet music. The only question is, will anyone waltz away?