PLASTIC MAN: A Novel of the Sixties a Review by Spiel

PLASTIC MAN: A Novel of the Sixties, by Dan Culberson, was published April 3, 2008, in both a hardcover and a softcover edition by Xlibris Corporation, a division of Random House, Inc.

This serio-comic story about college life at the University of Colorado in Boulder symbolizes the decade of the Sixties and has been called "a legitimate contender for the Great American Novel" which serves as a transition between "The Boring Fifties" and "The Embarrassing Sixties." One review calls it "the perfect novel for Baby Boomers."

A work of self-discovery and cultural analysis, the novel employs three different time schemes: The present describes the protagonist's journey after dropping out of college following a personal tragedy and hitchhiking from Colorado to California, the past describes his memories of his mostly comic experiences in college, and the future describes his musings of what happened to the country from the Sixties up to the present day.

Culberson was graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. degree in English literature in the Honors Program from the University of Colorado, was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and was also a member of the Phi Epsilon Phi sophomore men's honorary and the Hammers junior men's honorary. Classmates of his at C.U. and longtime residents of Boulder might very well recognize characters, events, and places depicted in the novel.

Culberson was born in Carmel, CA, but grew up all over the U.S. and Europe. He has lived in Monterey, CA: Medford, OR; Lawton, OK (twice); Pampa, TX; Minot, ND; El Paso, TX; Tacoma, WA; Kennewick, WA; Erlangen, Germany; Lebanon, MO; Colorado Springs, CO (where he attended high school); Boulder, CO (where he attended college and now lives); and Heidelberg and Sindelfingen, Germany. He served three years in the U.S. Army, retired from IBM after a career in publications and is a writer, editor, and publisher who came of age in the Sixties, which he remembers quite well, and who continues to write, edit, live, and think in the mountains. He has written seriously since he was 12 and has written about culture, politics, and religion since 1983. He was named a Boulder Pacesetter in 1985 by the BOULDER DAILY CAMERA in the first year of that program and has been a film reviewer since 1972 for magazines, newspapers, radio and TV, whose current "Hotshots" reviews are on KGNU Public Radio in Boulder and Denver every week, as well as on TV and all over the Internet.

To order the novel directly from the publisher: 1-888-795-4274
Orders@Xlibris.com
www.Xlibris.com
http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=32426
Book page: www.xlibris.com/PlasticMan.html
Author page: www.xlibris.com/Culberson.html

It can also be ordered from Amazon.com and any other bookstore.

PLASTIC MAN: A Novel of the Sixties
ISBN: 978-1-4363-2027-6 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-4363-2026-9 (Softcover)

The Perfect Novel for Baby Boomers a Review by Lynne Vigue

PLASTIC MAN: A Novel of the Sixties by Dan Culberson is the perfect novel for Baby Boomers ... and for anyone who has ever experienced the angst of burgeoning adulthood. It is a witty, engaging, and insightful account of college life in the 1960's, an era in which tumultuous societal change mirrored the vicissitudes and emotional upheavals that have always characterized human adolescence.

Much like the protagonist in his quest to find redemption in the "huge vastness" and "spilling wonderment" of the sea, activists of the Sixties, appalled at perceived social injustices, sought a "sea change" in social policy and popular culture. Readers of PLASTIC MAN will follow Hud's long journey (both emotionally and geographically) to the sea, and share in his disappointment/enlightenment when he finally glimpses his personal holy grail. Hud's experience serves as a reminder that, while the hopes and dreams of the Baby Boomer generation eventually fell short of reality, there were invaluable lessons learned in the pursuit of those idealistic goals.

The story of PLASTIC MAN is told with humor and empathy. Those of us who came of age in the Sixties cannot fail to identify with the events and youthful emotions portrayed in the novel. Younger readers should note that, despite the many contrasts between the popular culture of the Sixties and that of later eras, it is the similarities that are more profound. If ever a novel illuminated the paradoxical truism that "the more things change, the more they stay the same," this is it. Human adolescents will always push the limits of authoritarian rules, agonize at the vicissitudes of young love, worry about grades, seek to "fit in" while standing out and be traumatized by tragedies befalling their peers.

Many facets of this novel distinguish it from other fictionalized "coming-of-age in the Sixties" accounts. The author's numerous glimpses forward illustrate clearly the specific ways in which popular culture has changed since the decade of the Sixties. The novel is peppered with amusing puns and word play, along with lingo and musical references that those of us who lived through the era will instantly recognize, perhaps with nostalgia for "the old days." Moreover, there is an underlying mystery that keeps the reader keenly interested until the final pages of the novel.

If you read this book, one thing is for sure: The sentence "It's Saturday, by God!" will take on new and hilarious meaning. You'll have to read the book to find out why.

Lynne Vigue is a free-lance writer and photographer based in Meriden, Connecticut.Email: Lynne Vigue

Spiel was 6 months old when the dark years of WWII were unleashed. He was 50 and in psychotherapy when it dawned on him the fear present in his parent’s bodies at that time of unprecedented upheaval surely must have had a profound affect on him. His newest chapbook, “come here cowboy: poems of war,” recently written at age 65 and released by Pudding House Publications in the fall of 2006, focuses on how wars, stretching from WWI to today’s aggressive hostilities, have imprinted his life. Email: Spiel

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