Rocket Man (2008)

by William Elliott Hazelgrove

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
136	96	201,773	(3.24)	36
Rocket Man is a very funny and poignant comment on our times, when an upside down middle class is barely hanging onto the American dream. Taking cues from the calamity of The Great Recession, we meet Dale Hammer, a man who is determined to find meaning in a landscape of suburban homogeneity, looking for the moment he had with his own father when they blasted off a rocket on a wintery evening. He feels his son slipping away as he tries to get around “the silent shame of fathers and sons.” He becomes the Rocket Man for his sons scout troop and immediately his life implodes. Accused of cutting down the subdivision sign to his neighborhood, he becomes the lone rebel, going down in a flaming arc. When Rocket Day comes, Dale is determined to give his son more than his father gave him. … (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

buukluvr, Gotcha3613, UM3050, rjnagle, FelixWhelan, poolays, BALE, libraryclerk

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Member recommendations

01
Straight Man by Richard Russo (smc1)
01
Nothing but Blue Skies by Thomas McGuane (smc1)

▾Lists

Favourite Books (1,036)

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 36 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 98 (next | show all)

There are plenty of reviews here with synopsis of the story, so I won't double up on that. Just read this book! You won't be disappointed. I laughed out loud many times throughout Rocket Man, and shed real tears at the story's climax. I give this novel my two highest compliments... 1) This would make a GREAT movie! Pay attention, Hollywood! - and - 2) I am going to track down more work by this author. I want to read more! (

)

FelixWhelan | Jun 1, 2014 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

I won this book as an Early Reviewer five years ago, but never received it! When it came up as a free ebook, I recognized it, and ordered it. I actually enjoyed it very much. It was kind of a slow read, but I liked the main character, Dale, and wanted things to work for him. (

)

poolays | Nov 16, 2013 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

I really did like this book. I had sympathy for Dale because I saw some of him in me. Trying to make ends meet and forgetting about family and the things that matter the most. I was glad that it all worked out and that he stood up to the scout master that was more like an army officer. Second copy. Did not remember I had already read it. Different cover. (

)

libraryclerk | Feb 23, 2013 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Formula is there but writng & story just didn't do it for me. (

)

munkygone2hevn | Aug 7, 2011 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

William Hazelgrove's novel, "Rocket Man", is reminiscent of Richard Russo's writing. Both portray the plight of the average man with irony and wit. Implicit in this shared motif, are the vagaries found within the American Dream. Broken men with disintegrating marriages, questionable parenting skills and diminishing incomes flavor their novels. How they depict this is unique to their individual and refined styles. Hazelgrove handles the subject eloquently. His adages are not a burden nor redundant. He depicts a "happy" ending without becoming trite or sugary. Where there is a deeper context that flows through Russo's writing, Hazelgrove's comes in a close second. Rocket Man is a thoughtful and entertaining read.

Received via LibraryThing Early Reviewer's (

)

BALE | Apr 27, 2011 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 98 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors

▾Series and work relationships

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2008

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Rocket Man is a very funny and poignant comment on our times, when an upside down middle class is barely hanging onto the American dream. Taking cues from the calamity of The Great Recession, we meet Dale Hammer, a man who is determined to find meaning in a landscape of suburban homogeneity, looking for the moment he had with his own father when they blasted off a rocket on a wintery evening. He feels his son slipping away as he tries to get around “the silent shame of fathers and sons.” He becomes the Rocket Man for his sons scout troop and immediately his life implodes. Accused of cutting down the subdivision sign to his neighborhood, he becomes the lone rebel, going down in a flaming arc. When Rocket Day comes, Dale is determined to give his son more than his father gave him.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary