Hickam, Homer The Coalwood Way: A Memoir ISBN 13: 9780440237167

The Coalwood Way: A Memoir - Softcover

9780440237167: The Coalwood Way: A Memoir
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
From the #1 bestselling author of October Sky comes this rich, unforgettable tale. With the same dazzling storytelling that distinguished his first memoir, Homer Hickam takes us deeper into the soul of his West Virginia hometown at a moment when its unique way of life is buffeted by forces of time and change.

It is fall 1959. Homer “Sonny” Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys are in their senior year at Big Creek High, and the town of Coalwood finds itself at a painful crossroads.

The strains can be felt within the Hickam home, where Homer Sr. struggles to save the mine, and his wife, Elsie, is feeling increasingly isolated from both her family and the townspeople. Sonny, despite a blossoming relationship with a local girl, finds his own mood darkened by an unexplainable sadness.

Then, with the holidays approaching, trouble at the mine and the arrival of a beautiful young outsider bring unexpected changes in both the Hickam family and the town of Coalwood ... as this luminous memoir moves toward its poignant conclusion.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
In this follow-up to his bestselling autobiography Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam chronicles the eventful autumn of 1959 in his hometown, the West Virginia mining town of Coalwood. Sixteen-year-old Homer and his pals in the Big Creek Missile Agency are high school seniors, still building homemade rockets and hoping that science will provide them with a ticket into the wider world of college and white-collar jobs. Such dreams make them suspect in a conservative small town where "getting above yourself" is the ultimate sin and where Homer's father, superintendent of the Coalwood mines, is stingy with praise and dubious about his son's ambitions. Homer's mother remains supportive, but bluntly reminds him, "You can't expect everything to go your way. Sometimes life just has another plan." Indeed, Hickam's unvarnished portrait of Coalwood covers class warfare (union miners battling with his authoritarian father), provincial narrow-mindedness (the local ladies scorn a young woman living outside wedlock with a man who abuses her), and endless gossiping along the picket "fence line." These sharp details make the unabashed sentiment of the book's closing chapters feel earned rather than easy. Hickam can spin a gripping yarn and keep multiple underlying themes and metaphors going at the same time. His tender but gritty memoir will touch readers' hearts and minds. --Wendy Smith
About the Author:
Homer H. Hickam, Jr., was born and raised in Coalwood, West Virginia. The author of Torpedo Junction, a Military History Book of the Month Club selection, as well as numerous articles for such publications as Smithsonian Air and Space and American History Illustrated, he is a NASA payload training manager for the International Space Program and lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherIsland Books
  • Publication date2001
  • ISBN 10 0440237165
  • ISBN 13 9780440237167
  • BindingMass Market Paperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages400
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780385335164: The Coalwood Way (The Coalwood Series #2)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780385335164
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2000
Hardcover

  • 9780756907709: The Coalwood Way

    Turtle..., 2001
    Library Binding

  • 9780375430879: The Coalwood Way (The Coalwood Series #2)

    Random..., 2000
    Softcover

  • 9780606251600: The Coalwood Way (The Coalwood Series #2)

    Demco ...
    Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Seller Image

Hickam, Homer
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Soft Cover Quantity: 10
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780440237167

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 9.31
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Hickam, Homer H.
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 451672-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 7.24
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

HICKAM, HOMER
Published by Penguin Random House (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
INDOO
(Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0440237165

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 6.41
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Homer H. Hickam
Published by Island, New York (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Mass Market Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grand Eagle Retail
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Mass Market Paperback. Condition: new. Mass Market Paperback. From the #1 bestselling author of October Sky comes this rich, unforgettable tale. With the same dazzling storytelling that distinguished his first memoir, Homer Hickam takes us deeper into the soul of his West Virginia hometown at a moment when its unique way of life is buffeted by forces of time and change. It is fall 1959. Homer " Sonny" Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys are in their senior year at Big Creek High, and the town of Coalwood finds itself at a painful crossroads. The strains can be felt within the Hickam home, where Homer Sr. struggles to save the mine, and his wife, Elsie, is feeling increasingly isolated from both her family and the townspeople. Sonny, despite a blossoming relationship with a local girl, finds his own mood darkened by an unexplainable sadness. Then, with the holidays approaching, trouble at the mine and the arrival of a beautiful young outsider bring unexpected changes in both the Hickam family and the town of Coalwood . as this luminous memoir moves toward its poignant conclusion. From the #1 bestselling author of October Sky comes this rich, unforgettable tale. With the same dazzling storytelling that distinguished his first memoir, Homer Hickam takes us deeper into the soul of his West Virginia hometown at a moment when its unique way of life is buffeted by forces of time and change. It is fall 1959. Homer "Sonny" Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys are in their senior year at Big Creek High, and the town of Coalwood finds itself at a painful crossroads. The strains can be felt within the Hickam home, where Homer Sr. struggles to save the mine, and his wife, Elsie, is feeling increasingly isolated from both her family and the townspeople. Sonny, despite a blossoming relationship with a local girl, finds his own mood darkened by an unexplainable sadness. Then, with the holidays approaching, trouble at the mine and the arrival of a beautiful young outsider bring unexpected changes in both the Hickam family and the town of Coalwood.as this luminous memoir moves toward its poignant conclusion. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780440237167

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.49
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Homer H Hickam Homer Hickam
Published by Random House (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Softcover Quantity: 3
Seller:
Books Puddle
(New York, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. pp. 360. Seller Inventory # 26766365

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 10.75
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Hickam, Homer
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Ebooksweb
(Bensalem, PA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # 52GZZZ01P2NU_ns

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 19.16
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Hickam, Homer
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0440237165

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.32
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Hickam, Homer
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0440237165

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.96
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Hickam, Homer
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0440237165

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 30.45
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Hickam, Homer H.
Published by Island Books (2001)
ISBN 10: 0440237165 ISBN 13: 9780440237167
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPricesUK
(Castle Donington, DERBY, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 451672-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.05
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 18.93
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book