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Title: McConkey

Subtitle: A Political Novel

Author: John J. McConkey

Narrator: Joseph B. Kearns

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-29-16

Publisher: John J. McConkey

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In 1951, at the age of six, John McConkey meets his great-uncle Jack, whose stories about his own life fascinate the boy's imagination. As John comes of age in the 60's and 70's, Uncle Jack's socialist, working-class views challenge John's understanding of power, politics, and the "official" versions of history.

A fascinating glimpse into more than a century's worth of landmark political events, including the 1892 Homestead Strike, the Spanish-American War, the Ludlow Massacre, the Red Scare, the New Deal, the Cold War, JFK's assassination, 9/11, and the ins and outs of modern corruption, McConkey leads the listener to think beyond the status quo - and to question the stories we have been taught.

As John progresses from wide-eyed little boy to acerbic old man, his journey provides glimpses into our own modern world in this quirky and compelling novel.

Members Reviews:

When you were young, how did you receive your political education?

Book Review: McConkey

When you were young, how did you receive your political education? Did your parents whisper, âKeep your mouth shut and your head down. Donât rock the boat.â Or did they insist, âLook deeper. Thereâs more to this than meets the eye.â

Well, McConkey is all about looking deeper, looking below the surface, which is the only real way to examine American history. It is also about connecting your personal life with the American story â that is, what were your relatives doing during the major events that shaped (and misshaped) our countryâs history?

Itâs significant that the author seems to be a Baby Boomer. We Boomers spent our childhood in the fifties and early sixties in a dreadful silence, a time when nobody talked about anything of social significance â race, class, gender, religion, politics. We lived only a few short years from the Holocaust, but that topic was taboo. We lived at the dawn of the nuclear age, but hardly anybody ever talked about the Bomb.

Itâs appropriate that the narrator grew up in Philadelphia, a city full of history and the birthplace of our government.

And itâs only fair that a Boomer should speak out now, in order to pass on what he has learned to Millenials and their children. The first lesson is simple: Turn off your TV. Yes, we who lived at the birth of television know far better than anyone that there is no truth to be found there. Instead, says McConkey, you have to discover the truth on your own. Quoting the lyrics of the song âMaster Jackâ by Four Jacks and a Jill at the beginning of the book, the author warns the reader,

You taught me all the things the way youâd like them to be,

But Iâd like to see if other people agree.

Itâs all very interesting the way you disguise,

But Iâd like to see the world through my own eyes.

The story opens as the narrator, a boy of six, meets his Uncle Jack. Because the man is a truth-teller, he is labeled a liar. Because he was born in 1880, heâs got history to tell â that is, retell. And because he loves the boy, he shapes the boyâs political education.

This book makes a great gift. Men will like it because the author and main characters are men. Women will like it because itâs written from a very personal point of view.