Rating: 
Summary: A view of the post WWII Southern Illinois my father knew
Review: Elliott brings to life in vivid detail the rural midwest culture of my father's youth. Growing up in Southern Illinois myself after the cultural changes of the 60's, I only witnessed remnants of this age, occasionally brought to life by the stories of my father, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. In his acknowledgments Elliott states what I have often stated: "These people are the salt of the Earth". In addition to the midwest I have lived on both coasts and the south, and have been a part of the multicultral experience that is today's military. In my travels I have found no finer people.
Rating:
Summary: Down to Earth
Review: I have read many, many books and can't believe Ray Elliott is a first time author. His way of making you feel like you walked in John Walters shoes was superb. Takes me back to the days of innocence.I learned a great deal about the perils of life through the eyes of a child who lost a parent to war. You want to cry, ache and take him under your wing. I especially liked John Walters' southern way of talking. You see this young farm boy trying to make sense of a life he loves yet hates. He can't grow up soon enough. I truly didn't want the book to end and would like to know where John Walters' life will lead him. When is the sequel coming out? BL
Rating:
Summary: A Walk Down Memory Lane
Review: I loved "Wild Hands." I fell in love with "Sedwick" from the beginning and hope Ray Elliott has a sequel in the works to follow him into adulthood. Although I'm a bit younger (4 in 1950) and grew up in south central Indiana (Columbus, to be exact), so many of the scenes in "Wild Hands" triggered childhood memories for me. Elliott's vivid descriptions making Sedwick's story come alive also took me back to places I haven't been for years and the trip was amazing with memories of: *my own dad who was in the Navy during the war,
*his perfectionist approach to his work (third generation funeral director) which rubbed off on me,
*traveling with my dad when he had a burial out of town to cemeteries in Indianapolis or Chicago and the adventures of eating out with him and finding a parking place big enough for the hearse (I was an only child until I was 7 and was still his "buddy" after my two sisters were born seven and nine years after me. Guess I substituted for a son.) *Chesty potato chips delivered to the door
*mowing my parents' grass and my grandparents' grass weekly and getting paid by my grandmother but never by my parents
*the Olympia Dairy, a hangout for teens, where my friends and I went once in a while for lunch when we were in grade school - seeing those late 50s teens with DA haircuts and cigarette packs rolled in T-shirt sleeves
*Dr. Schmitt who actually still made house calls through the 1950s and in whose office I got stitches in my knee from falling off my scooter in the gravel driveway I owe a debt of thanks to Elliott for jogging my memory. I know I would not have reflected on any of this withpit his (and Sedwick's) help. I'm curious to know just how much of Sedwick is really Elliott.
Rating:
Summary: A Walk Down Memory Lane
Review: I loved "Wild Hands." I fell in love with "Sedwick" from the beginning and hope Ray Elliott has a sequel in the works to follow him into adulthood. Although I'm a bit younger (4 in 1950) and grew up in south central Indiana (Columbus, to be exact), so many of the scenes in "Wild Hands" triggered childhood memories for me. Elliott's vivid descriptions making Sedwick's story come alive also took me back to places I haven't been for years and the trip was amazing with memories of: •my own dad who was in the Navy during the war,
•his perfectionist approach to his work (third generation funeral director) which rubbed off on me,
•traveling with my dad when he had a burial out of town to cemeteries in Indianapolis or Chicago and the adventures of eating out with him and finding a parking place big enough for the hearse (I was an only child until I was 7 and was still his "buddy" after my two sisters were born seven and nine years after me. Guess I substituted for a son.) •Chesty potato chips delivered to the door
•mowing my parents' grass and my grandparents' grass weekly and getting paid by my grandmother but never by my parents
•the Olympia Dairy, a hangout for teens, where my friends and I went once in a while for lunch when we were in grade school - seeing those late 50s teens with DA haircuts and cigarette packs rolled in T-shirt sleeves
•Dr. Schmitt who actually still made house calls through the 1950s and in whose office I got stitches in my knee from falling off my scooter in the gravel driveway I owe a debt of thanks to Elliott for jogging my memory. I know I would not have reflected on any of this withpit his (and Sedwick's) help. I'm curious to know just how much of Sedwick is really Elliott.
Rating:
Summary: Close to Home
Review: I really enjoyed the book. I grew up very close to where the story takes place and it all rings very true to that part of rural Illinois. The characters are true to the farming communities of the area. My father survived the war in Europe although he was wounded and the story would have been close to my own in some ways had I been born a few years earlier. I hope a possible movie could be in the works. Ray has done a wonderful job and I hope many people who enjoy the World War II era will give the book a read.
Rating:
Summary: A Marvelous Book
Review: I was simply fascinated with this story. I am just a few years older than the author and I grew up in the very same area of southern Illinois which is described in the book. Mr. Elliot captures the essence of the era and the area so well and the characters are very real. The young boy's thoughts, actions and yearnings are beautifully described. I couldn't put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: A Marvelous Book
Review: I was simply fascinated with this story. I am just a few years older than the author and I grew up in the very same area of southern Illinois which is described in the book. Mr. Elliot captures the essence of the era and the area so well and the characters are very real. The young boy's thoughts, actions and yearnings are beautifully described. I couldn't put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: Growing up with a lost father as hero
Review: John Walter lives in a Southern Illinois small city right after WW II.... Even being only twenty, and therefore having not seen nor experienced any of what happens in the lead character's life, I could see the places Ray Elliott describes, hear the voices of those veterans, and hope for John Walter's future. This work is a realistic and absolutely truthful description of human psychology in front of the biggest fear: losing the people we love. And everything seen from the innocent eyes of a child who has learned too soon what suffering means and who takes as models those veterans and the father he never knew. Through his story Elliott pictures how war damages those who die but most of all those who come back and the families of all soldiers.
This is a beautifully written book and it is also more than relevant nowadays.
Rating:
Summary: A Hard Book to Put Down
Review: Life as it was in rural America in the 40's & 50's. It brings back lots of memories to us who remember one room schools, outhouses & the days before TV & Video games. The aftermath of WW2 is brought home through the eyes of those who lived with it. John Walter's family was a lot like our families. I can hardly wait for the writer to continue on with the life of John Walter!
Rating:
Summary: This is the way it was....period.
Review: Ray Elliott has written the definitive book about growing up in a small, rural post WWII community. From hanging out at the general store and pouring peanuts in your bottle of pop to playing in the "cricks," woods and old barns, going to one-room schools or spending summers baling hay and growing up ... it is all there, exactly like it really was. And by telling the story through the eyes of a boy who lost his father in the war Elliott gives us valuable insight to the psychological damage of war on the home front. If you grew up in a small town during this time, read this book and remember. If you did not, read this book and learn what it was like. Ray, John Walter is at the crossroads. Please, continue.
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