So went Hemingways famous quote about his hometown of Oak Park. A reviewer of my recent novel, Rocket Man compared my take on modern suburbia to this quote. I would have to say that Hemingways quote seems mild by comparison. Rocket Man deals with another phenomenon not thought of in Hemingway's time--the corporification of suburban American. If Rocket Man deals with anything it deals with this final rung of our oligarchy (rule by the wealthy class) that has gone so horribly bad. But for years this is what we have had. A rule by the corporations of America and they have literally changed the landscape. Corporations thrive on homgenity, organization, streamlining complexities down to general assumptions. If we have on man do one thing then he can do that one thing all day long and be efficient at it. So went the thinking of Henry Ford when he came up with the assembly line. This basic maxim has spread out over the land in our homes that all look the same, our schools that churn out good little soldiers, not original thinkers, and our institutions, from churces on down that quite literally look like corproate buildings. Rocket Man's main character Dale Hammer is at sea not because he is so different in this landscape, he is failing because he refuses to be a cog not unilke the character in Orwells 1984. Dale is losing his home and struggling to keep his family together which includes his unemployed father who has come to live over his garage. In a sense they have been corporate refugees, hanging on to see when the next shoe will drop. In that way, they certainly do mirror us all.
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