Official Review: Becoming Moon by Craig A. Hart

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 21 Jul 2015, 14:32

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Becoming Moon" by Craig A. Hart.]

3 out of 4 stars

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An entry in the fiction genre, Becoming Moon by Craig A. Hart is about a struggling author, his past and present, who he is, how he got that way, and finally, where he is possibly going. It was independently published in June 2015 and is available as both a paperback and ebook.

The nameless author, who is also the narrator, had some success early in his career but has fallen on lean times. He sets off on one of his “self-indulgent sojourns north,” meaning to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He makes a stop in the town of St. Francis. This has become his routine. He stops in the same town, goes to the same bar, even sits in the same booth. These and other rituals, he believes, are what coax the creative juices to flow. And he desperately needs some coaxing, since his success is growing smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror. He’ll continue on his journey and hopefully find his muse in the atmosphere of the Upper Peninsula and finish the “aging novel living on my computer’s hard drive.” But one dead car battery and two chance encounters are enough to make him change his mind.

The first is at this selfsame bar, called The Jesuit. He meets bestselling but aging author Nigel Moon. Moon is old, at the end of his career, and has one more book to write to complete a contractual six-book obligation. But he is “running dry.” He’s out of ideas and can’t write anymore. He offers a handsome sum of money to our nameless protagonist in an attempt to convince him to ghost-write the final book. The second encounter is with Kate, a stunning redhead who is only too happy to share his bed. ‘Nuff said. He’ll be in St. Francis for awhile.

The book is comprised of five parts, and only two of them are written in this time stream. The second part takes us back to the author’s boyhood and dwells on the difficulties of being a young atheist being raised in a conservative religious family. We also get a glimpse of his years as an up-and-coming author and what ultimately becomes his “big break.” The final part takes place sometime after the events of the opening timeline are concluded.

Thus, we see snatches of this author’s history in what amounts to a series of unrelated but salient periods of his life that lead to a sort of cumulative evolution and transformation a long time in the making. It is a biography told in snatches, a sort of coming-of-age story with the residual adult repercussions on display, for better or for worse. Our author is moody and conflicted and human, not always acting in the noblest or most egalitarian manner. But at least he is honest in his narrative. He falls a bit into the cliché of the embittered, sulky, struggling artist who, although believing in the lofty art-for-art’s-sake principles, usually hovers in a sphere just a skosh below them.

Each timeline has its own cast of characters, and they are generally well-drawn but necessarily superficial. After all, none appears in the story for more than 60 or so pages. But they all play a role in the main character’s emerging mental and emotional profile – some create the demons with which he struggles, some help him exorcise them – as if each is a finger on the potter’s hand, slowly forming the moist clay into a recognizable, and then solid, vessel. However, this lack of character exploration is not really below the expectation of the reader; Moon, however, is an intriguing persona, and I would have liked to see more of him. Perhaps it was intentional that his presence is kept somewhat muted, slightly out of focus. He acts as a catalyst, but is less prominent in the book than I expected.

The real strength of this book is the writing itself. Mr. Hart writes narrative, description, and dialogue equally well. The narrative is terse and uncluttered; the dialogue realistic, fluid, and always rooted firmly in the vernacular; and the descriptive writing at times achieves something akin to eloquence. For example:

Describing a sunset: “Late in the day, when the heavy sun began to sink into that giant pool of fire known as Lake Michigan…..Past my head, far above me, the sky repeated itself. It was light blue, dotted with clouds, infinite.”

Hailing a taxi: “I watched the taxi as it broke through the puddles and they burst like fireworks in a spray of sparkling water droplets and it occurred to me, in a microsecond of surrealism, that the puddles were more beautiful when broken.”

Describing a woman at his office: “Her protruding teeth always looked like they should be busy grinding the impregnable shell of a walnut.”

It was a pleasure to read this book, with such consistent, high quality writing. And I did not find one mechanical error – not one misplaced comma, misspelled word, or grammatical error. This is quite refreshing and rare in a self-published book.

The five sections are small stories unto themselves, but the cumulative effect was, for me, a bit disappointing. I wanted a better ending, but I’ve settled with the fact that the ending was good enough. There is not the standard rising action/climax/falling action/resolution formula, which means it is easy to put the book down and pick it up a few days later. I can’t say the story was uninteresting, but it’s not a “real page-turner” either. Although well crafted, I didn’t feel any special affinity for or connection to the main character (or any of the secondary characters).

If you are looking for a good story, you’ll like this book. If you’re looking for good writing, you’ll really like this book. I can recommend this to authors, as there is a good dose of author angst that any struggling (or successful) writer can relate to. If you enjoy reading a book which delves into internal struggles – both religious and moral, with a glimmer of transformation – then you might enjoy this. If it were possible, I would gladly give this book 3.5 stars. On a five-star scale, it would easily earn a four. But the story for me was not so compelling that I couldn’t put it down, and the ending was a bit of a letdown – I wanted a stronger dénouement – so I give Becoming Moon 3 out of 4 stars.

******
Becoming Moon
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Like PashaRu's review? Post a comment saying so!

Post by **bookowlie** » 22 Jul 2015, 18:29

Pasha, I always enjoy reading your insightful reviews. Since the writing is excellent, that raises my interest up a notch.

By the way, I visited the U.P. once about 7 years ago. The Mackinac Bridge to get up there is the longest bridge in the U.S. - very scenic, but not the most pleasant experience driving on it in the winter!

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Jul 2015, 18:50

Pasha, this is the most amazing review I have ever read. Did you go all out?! A few paragraphs in the middle blew my mind. Freaktastic! Great use of big words. There must be at least fifty of them hidden in there!! Gablonkers!

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:18

bookowlie wrote:Pasha, I always enjoy reading your insightful reviews. Since the writing is excellent, that raises my interest up a notch.

By the way, I visited the U.P. once about 7 years ago. The Mackinac Bridge to get up there is the longest bridge in the U.S. - very scenic, but not the most pleasant experience driving on it in the winter!

Thank you! I have always wanted to visit that area. Haven't been there yet, but I hope to get there some day.
If you care about good writing, you'll like this for sure.

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Pasha, this is the most amazing review I have ever read. Did you go all out?! A few paragraphs in the middle blew my mind. Freaktastic! Great use of big words. There must be at least fifty of them hidden in there!! Gablonkers!

Haha, thanks. But I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or sincere, haha.

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:25

Good grief! Thanks for asking. I'm being sincere! I'm too nice to be that sarcastic!

Thus, we see snatches of this author’s history in what amounts to a series of unrelated but salient periods of his life that lead to a sort of cumulative evolution and transformation a long time in the making. It is a biography told in snatches, a sort of coming-of-age story with the residual adult repercussions on display, for better or for worse. Our author is moody and conflicted and human, not always acting in the noblest or most egalitarian manner. But at least he is honest in his narrative. He falls a bit into the cliché of the embittered, sulky, struggling artist who, although believing in the lofty art-for-art’s-sake principles, usually hovers in a sphere just a skosh below them.

I thought that paragraph, for example, was totally awesome!! I've heard the words salient and egalitarian, but I've never known their definitions. (I still don't. So I tend to get impressed when people use them!) Also, I love the word skosh!

Post by **bookowlie** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:29

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Pasha, this is the most amazing review I have ever read. Did you go all out?! A few paragraphs in the middle blew my mind. Freaktastic! Great use of big words. There must be at least fifty of them hidden in there!! Gablonkers!

Hey, what about my reviews?! Just kidding.

Pasha, I think she is serious. The review truly is standout. I think you should go out to the U.P. and read your review aloud in a bar. Of course, most of the people will be very drunk and might not remember the review in the morning.

They do like to drink up there.

craigahart · Post by **craigahart** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:29

Hi! I hope it isn't poor form for an author to comment on their own book's review, but I just wanted to say that your review is extremely well written and I appreciate your thoughts more than I can say.

Also, since you haven't been up to the U.P. yet or driven across Mighty Mac, I highly recommend it!

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:32

zeldas_lullaby wrote:I thought that paragraph, for example, was totally awesome!! I've heard the words salient and egalitarian, but I've never known their definitions. (I still don't. So I tend to get impressed when people use them!) Also, I love the word skosh!

Thank you! That means a lot, especially coming from an author!

craigahart wrote:Hi! I hope it isn't poor form for an author to comment on their own book's review, but I just wanted to say that your review is extremely well written and I appreciate your thoughts more than I can say.

Also, since you haven't been up to the U.P. yet or driven across Mighty Mac, I highly recommend it!

It is not at all poor form! In fact, most reviewers really appreciate it when the author contributes to the comments. I really enjoyed reading and reviewing your book. You are a terrific writer! There were many more excerpts I could have included as examples of excellent writing and wonderful, unique, and creative use of English. I wish you much success with the book!

bookowlie wrote:Hey, what about my reviews?! Just kidding.
Pasha, I think she is serious. The review truly is standout. I think you should go out to the U.P. and read your review aloud in a bar. Of course, most of the people will be very drunk and might not remember the review in the morning. They do like to drink up there.

Haha! Instead of a poetry reading in a coffee shop, a book review reading in a bar! That's something I've never thought of before!

Post by **bookowlie** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:39

bookowlie wrote:
zeldas_lullaby wrote:Pasha, this is the most amazing review I have ever read. Did you go all out?! A few paragraphs in the middle blew my mind. Freaktastic! Great use of big words. There must be at least fifty of them hidden in there!! Gablonkers!
Hey, what about my reviews?! Just kidding.
Pasha, I think she is serious. The review truly is standout. I think you should go out to the U.P. and read your review aloud in a bar. Of course, most of the people will be very drunk and might not remember the review in the morning. They do like to drink up there.

Oops...meant to say "is a standout."

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:40

Haha, I thought it sounded fine as is!

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:40

Well, geez, you're welcome!

It was really good! I think the issue here is that anyone could think that big words are bad? I think they're great! I never shy away from big vocab, and I love seeing big words in play! BookOwlie and I were talking about this once--I think it adds texture to the reading experience.

HA HA, BookOwlie, there's no way anyone could read Pasha's review with alcohol in their system. They'd stumble through it.

Welcome, Craigahart! I don't think it's poor form!

Congrats on your great review!

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:45

I agree, I think unique or unusual words add color and interest, as long as it's not overdone and ends up sounding pretentious.

(I used to read the dictionary when I was a kid!)

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:52

I never thought of that... going overboard with big words. You read the dictionary? :geek:

Just kidding. Well, I didn't think your review sounded pretentious at all! I thought it sounded eloquent, well-written, and stylish.

You know, you should write that novel that's in your head already!

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 22 Jul 2015, 19:57

zeldas_lullaby wrote:I never thought of that... going overboard with big words. You read the dictionary? :geek:

Just kidding. Well, I didn't think your review sounded pretentious at all! I thought it sounded eloquent, well-written, and stylish.

You know, you should write that novel that's in your head already!

Thank you!

Thanks for the encouragement. The whip is a little...err...kinky, but maybe just what I need.