Rocket City

Gayle Richardson of the northeast branch of the Seattle public library says that Rocket City is "one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’ve purchased more than 100 copies to give away as gifts. Another thing – both men and women like this book." Gayle also mentioned that the first sentence (see below) is a prize winner.
Rocket City follows two parallel stories that are both set in (and on roads in between) strange little desert towns in New Mexico. This book is filled with quirky and very real characters, and it deals with fire, carnivals, dust storms, cheap motels, atomic test sites, obnoxious cops and unusual love affairs.

The following is the beginning of the first chapter, Alamogordo.
     Three melons and a dwarf sat in the front seat of Marilee’s ’72 Dodge, but the cop was not amused. "I’d get rid of that bumper sticker if I was you," he said. "Folks ‘round here, they’re proud of their history." Marilee’s bumper sticker said, "One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day." Wrong place, wrong time. This spot on the road crossing While Sands Missile Range was fifty miles southwest of Alamogordo.

The following is the ending of the first chapter, Alamogordo.
    Marilee gazed up into the desert night—so many stars it would take a lifetime to count. She felt Enoch’s gnarled body bobbing close to hers in the water. So close, yet separate. Different, and alone. A strange silence took hold of her. Night silence. Water silence. Star silence. She threw her head back and let the water wash over her face, fill her eyes, stream out the corners of her mouth. Liquid smooth as desert sand. Liquid cool as starlight. She felt intoxicated by the water, the darkness, the explosion of stars. This is crazy, she thought.
     Crazy and real.

MacMurray and Beck is a general trade publisher of personal nonfiction and reflective, literary novels with contemporary settings. Their editors are also drawn to works that contemplate the roles that geography, culture, family, and tradition play in our efforts to define ourselves. They search for works that are free of the modern habit of accepting the world without thought. Visit www.macmurraybeck.com for more information.

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