On the cusp of Tim's teenage years, change is in the air and a feverish hope is sweeping the land. The nation’s young president dreams of moon landings, rock and roll fills the airways, and boys in tennis shoes shoot hoops on warm summer nights. After being on the road for years, his family finds a home in small town America. And then a mentor arrives to lead Tim to the light. Still, danger lurks in shadows, that undercurrent of violence and failure in his country, the strife of the dispossessed and the war. There have always been excesses of ignorance and rage in his life, and long stretches of missed meals for his family, the losers of society. He must break his father's habits. And when the war finally comes for him, it seems that only those of his social class are called to fight the nation’s battle and make the ultimate sacrifice.
With laughter and pain, Dangle Him Purposely captures the crushing weight of the era, the class and racial divides, the beseeching prayer for peace, and the troubling fear that our culture was becoming lost and corrupt. But at its core, this is a story of one boy’s adventures during the calm and in the storm as he grows into manhood as boys do in every era, whether in peace or in war.
“It is a captivating story, delivered with good humor, and in gorgeous writing. . . . However, what is most captivating about Dangle Him Purposely is the social and political statement of the book, a subtle denunciation of war and social inequality." Readers Favorites, Divine Zape
". . . a highly engrossing series of memoir moments that are sure to keep readers turning the pages from cover to cover. . . . . Author T. B. O'Neill has crafted a very engrossing and immersive work of autobiographical writing with plenty of truth, honor, and inspiration to offer its readers." K.C.Finn, Readers Favorites.
"The child is not a child anymore, as this book says in the beginning - but neither is he yet a man. The pathos of his growth process is captured in accounts that excel in recreating haunting moments of uncertainty in a young man's life. Readers seeking a memoir . . . will find this exploration engrossing, revealing, and worthy of the read." Diane Donovan, Senior editor, Mid-West Book Review.
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"Profound, descriptive, and intricate. The book is fully packed with cultural richness, historical facts, a day-to-day depiction of American soldiers . . . and more." Foluso Falaye
