The Boy Orator

by Tracy Daugherty

A novel on the socialist movement in Oklahoma at the turn of the century. The hero is Harry Shaughnessy, 11, trained by his father to address meetings in halls because a boy is a crowd-drawer and can say things without provoking the wrath of mine owners.The novel looks at the exploitation of patriotism to destroy the movement around World War I. By the author of What Falls Away.Harry Shaughnessy, the young son of an Oklahoma farmer, uses his loud speaking voice to talk about his father's socialist beliefs to groups of farmers, miners, and oil workers, where he meets Eugene V. Debs and other influential socialists

Genres: Fiction

249 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999