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"The Sixties," overlapping into the 1970s in most memories, is the most stereotyped era of the post-World War II period. Many novels have been written about the Vietnam War, specific aspects of the drug scene, conspiracy theories, the changing music culture, civil rights struggles, or feminism. Despite multiple angles on individual aspects of the period, it is hard to find any fictional account of what it was like for ordinary Americans to live through that discordant era in all of its manifestations. Crystal Ships is a saga of that era, filling a spot on that near-empty shelf.
The Book has been self-published via Amazon CreateSpace and is available as Paperback - 324 pages - released in November 2013.
About the Book
A sweeping saga of American idealism and disillusionment, Richard Sharp’s exquisite Crystal Ships traces the lives of seven friends through two decades of violence, hope, and cultural change. Sharp spins an epic tale that starts back in the heady days of the Kennedy administration, when Camelot appeared as a shining beacon of hope for all Americans. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy shatters that optimism.
As the years tick on, riots, more assassinations, drugs, gender conflicts, and the Vietnam War escalations come crashing into the country’s consciousness.The killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy in 1968, accompanied by personal tragedies, become a pivotal point in the protagonists lives.
Seven very different individuals live out their lives against the backdrop of these monumental events, unwittingly encapsulating the spirit of the time. The cast of male and female characters includes three men—a youthful striver from Boston’s Irish working class inspired by JFK, a Harvard-educated would-be poet of the drug culture, and a dedicated Vietnam War volunteer. Their four female counterparts are a rebellious and defiant dancer seeking to overcome sexual abuse, her repressed friend bound to pre-feminist conventions, a conflicted housewife-career woman, and a South African exchange student seeking the American dream. Their fallibility is sometimes humorous sometimes tragic. Each individual carries the burden of the times. Each seeks reconciliation with the traumas of that difficult era and new aspirations to carry them forward.
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| Click to Read an Excerpt |
Crystal Ships may be seen as companion piece to Sharp’s prize-winning novel, The Duke Don’t Dance (See Book Feature on Indie Author News). That was an impressionistic portrait of the generation that lived through the Cold War period, told in a style one reviewer described as "Evelyn Waugh with a claw hammer." Crystal Ships is a dissection of the time period itself, ultimately standing as a novel for an era that is breathtaking in scope.
Reviews (Excerpts)
- "[...] For someone who came of age in the 60s Crystal Ships is an authentic look back at the events of the times depicted. The characters are fully formed, some sympathetic, others annoying and sometimes both in the same characters. The details of the period and places are mind boggling--so accurate that they cannot all be from the author's memories. His research served him well. This is an engrossing story with the right amount of humor, intensity, and suspense and surprise. I could not put it down until I finished it. I highly recommend Crystal Ships. " - Eileen Rose
- "Right away I had to say, “Right On!” as I read the dedication to Richard Sharp’s latest novel, Crystal Ships: “Dedicated to the survivors of America’s decades of discontent and the writers, musicians, artists and entertainers who helped them through it.”
As I turned the pages, propelled by the drama, my heart pounding, I wanted to escape to a softer place, but the unfolding tale was relentless and I could not put it down.
Crystal Ships might be regarded as a companion piece to Sharp’s prize-winning Indie novel, The Duke Don’t Dance as it is equally immersed in the popular culture and politics of its time. [...]
Yes—and then there is the intensity! Indeed, Richard Sharp has done it again! " - Jane Anne
About the Author
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| Author Richard Sharp |
He is the author of Jacob’s Cellar, Time is the Oven, The Duke Don’t Dance, and his most recent novel, Crystal Ships. His publications have garnered him multiple accolades, including a Kirkus Star and place on the Kirkus Best Self-Published Book list (2013), the an Independent Publishers gold medal for Best Adult Fiction E-Book (2014), a finalist finish in the ForeWord Clarion Firsts (2012) and Reader’s Favorite (2012) categories, and even a Deane Ritch Lomax Poetry Award for an extract from Crystal Ships. Sharp is married with two adult children and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Links to the Author and the Book
Link to the Author's Website
Connect with the Author on Goodreads: Richard_G_Sharp
Connect with the Author on Twitter: @Richard_G_Sharp
Link to the Paperback Crystal Ships with Excerpt on Amazon
