It Had to Happen: The Shortsale Novel

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Rocket Man Novel brings to light the plight of the underwater homeowner and an American Dream in Reverse.

New York, NY, April 01, 2011 (PressReleasePoint) -- Novelist James Frey called Rocket Man the novel of the New American Dream. And certainly our times have brought to light that the American Dream might well be undergoing a retrofit. Sterling and Ross is publishing a novel that depicts one mans fight to find happiness in a world gone mad. Dale Hammer is looking for some sign of sanity with a house that is worth less than he owes, an unstable job, a dismal marriage, and a son who is looking to his father to be the Rocket Man for his Scout Troop. The American Dream in Dales world is under attack from every side.

We can relate. There is no bailout for the American Middleclass and with foreclosures increasing every month, Rocket Man is paticularly resonant as a morality play of what the American Dream has become. Dale's quest to find happiness in this suburban landscape is a comedy with many hilarious moments. This is the novel about the people that Jonathan Franzen left out of FREEDOM. This is about the middleclass under seige with diminishing expectations, diminishing economic power, and still having to deal with kids and deferreed dreams with only a shortsale as salvation.

"I didnt set out to write a novel about the recession, but my character's main problems are economically based," novelist Wiliam Hazelgrove said from his office in the Hemingway House. "The American Dream had become the big car, the big house, the vacations, the whole ball of wax and then it all just crashed and left everyone wondering what the hell happened."
So it is with Rocket Man. Dale Hammer is looking for answers, trying to find what is left of the American Dream for himself and rolling toward a shorsale with the speed of a rocket.
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011, Sterling and Ross.com, 212 244-2084, www.billhazelgrove.com
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