Why Anybody Want to Play WAR? Is a Coming of Rage Novel
by Tommy B. Smith
I’ve referred to my latest novel, Anybody Want to Play WAR? as a coming of rage novel. Set in the early 1980s, it’s the story of a teenager mauled by a dog’s brutal attack, his subsequent scarred appearance, and difficulties readjusting to life at home and at school.
The book falls into the category of a Bildungsroman. That is, the tale of an individual’s formative years, often characterized by a conflict between the protagonist or main character and society. Great Expectations, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Outsiders are varied examples of this form of story.
At the tale’s outset, I reserved no specific classification for its genre. It emerged while exploring the setting of St. Charles from my previous book, The Mourner’s Cradle, after enduring catastrophe and loss.
In a city shaken by tragedy, when the scars would not relent and the future seemed a brick wall, the broken crossroads posed a question: “Where to go from here?”
A story unto itself, this book probes beneath the layers of the city, its people, and more specifically the character of Bryce Gallo and his family. It’s a tale of deep injury and the struggle to mend, of picking up the broken pieces. I would call it a coming of age tale, but peppered with those dark whispers that have shaded my previous works, and sparks of fire and fury. Hence, a coming of rage tale.
Many of us can remember what it was to be a teenager, inexperienced and relentless, raging against the rapids in search for ourselves, our independence, and the future. During this crucial time, Bryce’s own search derails in the face of trauma and injustice.
Following the day of the dog, the bitter injustices of the past come bubbling back to the surface. Life at home becomes difficult to manage, and the feared days of returning to school even more so. As young as he is, Bryce can’t see tomorrow.
The world’s lack of sympathy forces his hand. Attacked and marked, a victim of circumstance, he lashes out.
Unfortunately, his unbalanced efforts to cope sometimes injure those closest to him, and in our society, there are rules and consequences. The odds are against him, the results frustrating. He wants out. The only viable course of escape appears to be through the window of his room to anywhere else, but he doesn’t yet know what awaits him in the vast world outside.
The world can be merciless. In some ways, the struggle of an uncompromising individual versus the world may boil down to that adage I first mentioned upon the release of my horror novella, Poisonous. When we fight fire with fire, the fire grows.
For Bryce Gallo, the harshest conflict of all might be in confronting himself and looking in the mirror.
About the author: Tommy B. Smith is a writer of dark fiction, author of The Mourner’s Cradle, Poisonous, and the short story collection Pieces of Chaos, as well as works appearing in numerous magazines and anthologies throughout the years. His presence currently infests Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife and cats. More information can be found on his website at http://www.tommybsmith.com.
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Book Synopsis for Anybody Want to Play WAR?: Brutal injuries can leave scars.
As the teenaged survivor of a savage dog’s rampage, it’s a lesson Bryce Gallo will never forget.
Struggling to cope with his damaged appearance, along with a newfound fear of dogs and mounting anxieties at home and school, he flees his suburban home into the moonlit streets of St. Charles.
Along the roads of suburbia and through the shadowed heart of the city, he encounters Wheels, a maintenance worker for a series of apartment buildings; Paloma, known to some by the moniker of Lady Luck; and a woman in a dark house who is, as far as Bryce can fathom, like no one else he has met before.
His new life is not without obstacles or enemies, he learns. The future is a battlefield. Fire and smoke loom on the horizon, and his dangerous course may see the lives of his family and friends forever changed.
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Links for Anybody Want to Play WAR?
Kindle Version: https://www.amazon.com/Anybody-Want-Play-Tommy-Smith-ebook/dp/B07Y45ZYG2/
Amazon Print Version: https://www.amazon.com/Anybody-Want-Play-Tommy-Smith/dp/1948042843/
Barnes and Noble Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anybody-want-to-play-war-tommy-b-smith/1133901518?ean=9781948042840