Faceless Passerby Becomes His Own Houdini to Escape Life’s Potholes and Hurricanes
“Behind this family’s public image lie the raw truths which confront each of them in coping with their relationships. Small town Mike trudges through life with one hand tied behind his back. With a Norman Rockwell flair for drawing the local color of his roots, Mike Mullan blames no one for his own path not being a cake walk despite devoted parental support. Few are courageous enough to not only live with demons but to tell us about them. Many students will be relieved to hear that success is not reserved for the top students or only for the Harvard bound. From student to senior citizen, all may be reminded of how water wears away the rock—steady, simple, focused, passionate. Do we sometimes need to define success as simply surviving well for the meek or challenged? This story of low crawling into manhood has surprises galore among a diverse cast of closely knit characters as they struggle to make lemonade out of lemons on display in the family owned H B Davis Market in upstate New York, a truly typical 1950s American cultural profile. The Catcher in the Rye gave voice to a whole generation of alienated young Americans. Times have changed, but Clisham has provided us with an anti-hero every bit as compelling as Holden Caulfield. How can one solitary person’s story be of value? The answer is that which is most personal is also most universal. In Mike, who has been kicked around by life, we meet a survivor who can not only help us understand ourselves, but also these “interesting times” in which we live.”
–Thomas E. Legere PhD author of Living an Authentic Life
“A story of an ordinary person told with extraordinary honesty, sensitivity and candor. Narrated in the first person, the events are not just biography but testimony of the human spirit. A solitary life of unassuming quiet, sometimes lonely, courage. The book does not offer some grand hero but a man satisfied with himself, looking back on his life. Hobby Trumps Heartache is a narrative version of Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.”
– Glenn Kuhnel: former Dir of Ed, Diocese of St. Augustine; Instructor, U of N Florida, Seattle University and Loyola New Orleans.
First time Author and retired Marriage & Family Therapist, Pat Clisham resides in Myrtle Beach, SC. He has combined 60 years of experience in Fine Arts, long term care management, military service and mental health clinical assets to create the Broken Giant series.
