DON’T BLOW YOURSELF UP BY HOMER HICKAM
Mom cast a glance at Dad, who was pretending not to hear anything. She turned back to me. “You were supposed to be our backup boy in case we lost Jim for some reason.”
Such maternal candor, whether genuine or not, but definitely funny, marks the appalling and delightful self-awareness Homer Hickam exhibits as he navigates his autobiographical years after Rocket Boys (the book) and October Sky (the movie) in this continuation of his mother’s adjuration: Don’t Blow Yourself Up. According to this fast-paced series of intensely witty and sometimes deadly serious recollections, Mother Hickam was not far off the mark. After all, these were the years of the Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam, and on a more relevant scale, that ill-considered but characteristic impulse to build a vengeance-filled cannon named Skipper. Moms have insights rarely shared by their sons. At least until our more relaxed, reflective years.
Homer Hickam’s reflections in Don’t Blow Yourself Up demonstrate both the therapeutic value of living with incisive wit and humor, but also with the high degree of existential threat implied from such humorous juxtapositions. The best medicine, after all. Indeed, what may have provoked legitimate angst in the life of this acutely attuned participant now becomes a source of constant laughter for the fascinated reader, while evoking more than minor sympathy for the enduring author. I mean, who can’t relate to this little pearl of self-seeing:
Anyway, being on an airplane that was on fire seemed to be just about what I should have expected at that juncture in my life.
And, in a peculiar way, that sums up nicely this whole fantastic memoir.
H. HICKAM
Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite
ATTENTION ALL AUTHORS! BE SURE TO ENTER READERS’ FAVORITE BOOK CONTEST
VISIT MY INDIE BOOK SHOP
AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES