Reviews

American Past Time by Len Joy

rdpulfer's review

4.0

"American Past Time" is a historical epic charting the ups and downs of an all-American family from an idyllic baseball career through the chaotic tribulations of the sixties and seventies. It's very engaging read, offering likeable yet realistic characters struggling with the ever-changing realities of life during the time period. Joy excels particularly at making his characters both enjoyable and complicated, and at no point to the characters feel as though they've dipped into cynical caricatures of themselves. Overall, it's an intriguing read, especially for fans of the time period.

avitalgadcykman's review

5.0

This is a delightful read, flowing and intriguing. The theme of baseball is taken to illustrate what, for me, is the real theme: people from a humble origins, their expectations from life, their relationships and struggles. The story introduces several generations in the mid-twentieth , overviewing the way the USA was during this years, economically and culturally, beyond the way individuals felt them (or survived them). The story telling is well-handled, opening the story toward a change as an organic part of the development in the characters’ experiences. The author relates small and big events, revealing that this combination of private and public history is unavoidable. We depend on our time and place for the way we will understand and deal with our lives.