The most magnificent master of alluring alliteration Reviewed in the United States on 30 May 2023 The book begins in a very quirky American town, Goodmews. As a night-sky gazer in rural Colorado, I definitely know what the town’s “Mars-colored cliffs” look like... The many Sixties song references slowed me down some as I had to pause and recall the melody—call it a guilty pleasure that filled me with smug satisfaction if I got it right... The ideal reader, like myself, lived through the years of the space race which were the years of these songs. Yet everyone has heard them at one point or another, either by the original artist or percolating through the decades with new interpretations. But I was astonished how the lyrics came to occupy center stage in a new and pivotal role... I found the colour scientist’s search for an original color fascinating. An art instructor at the college where I teach certified its accuracy... What struck me throughout was the author’s use/play with language. For me, he is the most magnificent master of alluring alliteration, seasoning the meal with polygamous puns. I liked the similes too, which offer wise insight into life lived and experience of the world around us.

A love for the sound and rhythm of words Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2023 This book is different to anything I’ve ever read, and it was a pleasure to read... It’s not a short book, but it was an easy read... The prose is beautiful. The author clearly has a love for the sound and rhythm of words, which include ones he’s made up, yet the language feels natural... The imaginative plot in brief: in 1965 a Mr Thwaite sets out to manipulate a sleepy little American town for his own ends. The town is famous for its clear and striking views of the moon, and the plot, which involves the moon, flows from this. Will anyone work out what the bad guys are up to in time? Will their mad plan succeed or will they get their comeuppance?... The letters between the characters strike just the right tone. The exchanges with NASA, for instance, which help guide us through the plot, are hilariously formal and quite believable, and the importance of pop songs to the story becomes clear as the story continues... Though the book is clearly set in the sixties, it somehow has a timeless feel. My sense, when I’d finished, was that this was the story the author felt he had to tell, and in his own way.

Charming and idiosyncratic, with a joyful soul... Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2023... The plot is a low stakes romp which, while very engaging and fun, is almost a device around which the author can weave a kaleidoscope of his own musings, observations, word play, rhetorical questions and fragments of poetry. I cannot recall reading a book with quite as vivid a reflection of the author's working mind, which makes this a real pleasure... The author has found wonder and interest in some of the smallest things in everyday life, which in turn prompts us, the readers, to observe these things ourselves. He manages to identify tiny shards of the common human experience in the least likely places... There is a wistful, nostalgic shading to the writing, but not in a cynical or bitter "oh it was better back in the day" sort of way. Again it's more about recognising the simple joys. That said, some of the observations of human behaviour, particularly the small ways people call bully and demean others are spot on, and not joyful in the slightest. These are acutely observed and very well drawn so as to make the reader wholly empathetic with the characters.