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Madrone
The year is 1969. After an interminable four years under the boot of the US military, twenty-four-year-old Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers is ready for his real life to begin. His plans are spend as much time as he can with his girlfriend, Jane, finish college, and become a writer. But when Nate is denied admission to UC Santa Cruz, he decides that a bachelor's degree isn't necessary for the path he's laid out for himself. He can learn about literature on his own, and he'll have more time to write if he isn't in school. His choice doesn't sit well with everybody. Jane's father asks Nate how he'll support Jane without a degree. Jane's mentor offers to pull some strings at SC if Nate agrees to become his student. And when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presents itself, even Nate is tempted by the allure of conventionally defined success. Picking up where Wild Blue Yonder left off, Madrone inspires us to consider how far we'll go to remain true to ourselves. Madrone was chosen for the Best Literary Fiction Award by the Independent Publishers of New England in 2016.
348 pages, Paperback
First published June 26, 2014
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Jack B. Rochester
16 books13 followersAs a grad student, Jack B. Rochester longed to see a book with his name on the cover. Today, it’s on sixteen books and counting. He launched his career as a business book editor and guided 65 authors’ books into print. Then his own company, Joshua Tree Interactive, and the bestselling “The Naked Computer,” three college textbooks, and his swan song/last hurrah, the internationally acclaimed “Pirates of the Digital Millennium” (both TNC and PODM co-authored with John Gantz).
In 2007, he turned to writing fiction: his Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers literary trilogy was published by Wheatmark (paperback, Kindle, Audible). Two distinctly different novels and a short story collection are in the works. You can follow his writing and read his Saturday Book Reviews at JackBoston, his innovative website.
Jack spends a lot of his time mentoring writers. He specializes in ghostwriting business books, but has also ghosted works as diverse as a personal growth book and a novel. He counsels writers one-on-one and in writing workshops across the country.
He’s the co-founder of The Fictional Café, an online ‘zine publishing fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, fine art, photography, and fiction podcasts for 800 subscribers in 46 countries. “The Strong Stuff: The Best of Fictional Café, 2013-2017,” was published in a limited edition in 2019.
Jack earned a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature from California State University at Sonoma. He grew up in South Dakota and Wyoming, spent many years on the West Coast, and now lives in the Boston area with his wife. An avid cyclist, he owns five bicycles. As he likes to say, no moss grows beneath his feet.
In 2007, he turned to writing fiction: his Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers literary trilogy was published by Wheatmark (paperback, Kindle, Audible). Two distinctly different novels and a short story collection are in the works. You can follow his writing and read his Saturday Book Reviews at JackBoston, his innovative website.
Jack spends a lot of his time mentoring writers. He specializes in ghostwriting business books, but has also ghosted works as diverse as a personal growth book and a novel. He counsels writers one-on-one and in writing workshops across the country.
He’s the co-founder of The Fictional Café, an online ‘zine publishing fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, fine art, photography, and fiction podcasts for 800 subscribers in 46 countries. “The Strong Stuff: The Best of Fictional Café, 2013-2017,” was published in a limited edition in 2019.
Jack earned a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature from California State University at Sonoma. He grew up in South Dakota and Wyoming, spent many years on the West Coast, and now lives in the Boston area with his wife. An avid cyclist, he owns five bicycles. As he likes to say, no moss grows beneath his feet.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 29, 2018
Madrone by Jack B. Rochester is a beautiful sequel to
Wild Blue Yonder
, which picks up where the first one left off giving a detailed glimpse into the life of the protagonist, Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers after he enters the next phase of his life and explores the world outside of the military.
Just like the previous book by author Rochester, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well. I'm glad that I got a chance to read the first book so close to this one because the whole story of Nathaniel felt like a nice long movie. The writing was really good and felt apt for such a beautiful story. The characterization was great as instantly I was able to connect to Nathaniel, and was able to relate to him while he went about living his life in a world that was new to him.
The book is based in the 1960's and the author has done a commendable job in enabling people like me, who never saw that era, to be able to live it through his amazing cast of characters. The settings did not only make the book very interesting but also very enjoyable.
It is a good book with a heart-warming story and exceptional writing to compliment it, sprinkled with a cast of characters that would steal your heart in a blink and I'd recommend it to everyone who loves reading a meticulously constructed story with fully fleshed-out characters.
You can also read this review at www.thereadingbud.com
Just like the previous book by author Rochester, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well. I'm glad that I got a chance to read the first book so close to this one because the whole story of Nathaniel felt like a nice long movie. The writing was really good and felt apt for such a beautiful story. The characterization was great as instantly I was able to connect to Nathaniel, and was able to relate to him while he went about living his life in a world that was new to him.
The book is based in the 1960's and the author has done a commendable job in enabling people like me, who never saw that era, to be able to live it through his amazing cast of characters. The settings did not only make the book very interesting but also very enjoyable.
It is a good book with a heart-warming story and exceptional writing to compliment it, sprinkled with a cast of characters that would steal your heart in a blink and I'd recommend it to everyone who loves reading a meticulously constructed story with fully fleshed-out characters.
You can also read this review at www.thereadingbud.com
July 1, 2018
It had been several years since I read "Wild Blue Yonder" and entered into the life and thoughts and angst of the protagonist, Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers. But when I read "Madrone," the sequel to "Wild Blue Yonder," it felt as though time were wrapping in on itself. I reentered the character's world with ease, and it was like reconnecting with an old friend. Nate has his rough spots, and is certainly not always likeable (who is?), but he is real, fully fleshed out, and personifies the struggles and doubts and challenges of young adulthood. The author, Jack Rochester, weaves a literary tale that is unconcerned with traditional plot--the story reads more like a memoir. There is nothing contrived or artificial about it. It is a genuine literary work.
In "Madrone," we see Nate return home from his military service in Germany. Now he faces the challenge of deciding on a career, navigating the uncharted territory with his girlfriend, and, most important of all to Nate, develop his craft as a writer. Nate forgoes the traditional path, turns down a college scholarship, confronts authority, questions the fabric and mission of his country, and just experiences life and allows himself to grow and feel.
In addition to everything else, the novel provides a robust, three-dimensional depiction of life in the late 1960s. I did not experience the '60s firsthand, but through the detail-rich and authentic narrative of a novel like "Madrone," I feel as though I have a front-row seat.
Perhaps more than anything, "Madrone" is a celebration of the writing craft. Rochester is a gifted storyteller, navigating his way through the story with confidence, not rushed or self-conscious in any way. The prose and the story are one, perfectly blended.
If you enjoy a well-written novel, a period piece, a tale that explores growing up into a young adult, self-discovery, and the intricacies and nuances of the human condition, then "Madrone" is the novel for you.
In "Madrone," we see Nate return home from his military service in Germany. Now he faces the challenge of deciding on a career, navigating the uncharted territory with his girlfriend, and, most important of all to Nate, develop his craft as a writer. Nate forgoes the traditional path, turns down a college scholarship, confronts authority, questions the fabric and mission of his country, and just experiences life and allows himself to grow and feel.
In addition to everything else, the novel provides a robust, three-dimensional depiction of life in the late 1960s. I did not experience the '60s firsthand, but through the detail-rich and authentic narrative of a novel like "Madrone," I feel as though I have a front-row seat.
Perhaps more than anything, "Madrone" is a celebration of the writing craft. Rochester is a gifted storyteller, navigating his way through the story with confidence, not rushed or self-conscious in any way. The prose and the story are one, perfectly blended.
If you enjoy a well-written novel, a period piece, a tale that explores growing up into a young adult, self-discovery, and the intricacies and nuances of the human condition, then "Madrone" is the novel for you.
July 9, 2019
MADRONE
If you’re young and you want to know what your grandparents went through in the giddy 60s, or you’re middle aged and want to know what your parents were up to while you were racing your tricycles, or you’re old and you just want help remembering, read Jack B. Rochester’s Madrone, the second in his trilogy (or will it be a quartet?)
Madrone, we learn, is not only a rather beautiful California tree with tangled branches and many-colored bark (or perhaps a coat of many colors), it is a symbol of consciousness. And consciousness was what those years of war and rebellion were all about: how to be a better person, how to improve and grow without the help of parents strapped down by an oppressive conformity, the comfort of the post-WWII years. First the Beats set out on endless pilgrimage, then the hippies tore everything down in a fit of delirious, and certainly drug-enhanced joy. Of course it all turned sour, but not in this novel of true love and true-to-self rejection of the status quo.
Nate dedicates himself to his girlfriend Jane, and vice versa. I kept expecting the specter of diverging paths, if such can have a specter, to loom and slowly pry them apart. Was I disappointed? I’m not saying.
Nate writes a book, because Nate is, well, a writer. Like many of the literary figures alive at the time (Kerouac comes to mind), Nate refuses a college education because, and here he quotes Oscar Wilde, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” I don’t think Mr. Rochester holds to that since he has an advanced college degree, but his protagonist, who may be an idealized stand-in for the generation, is willing to resist, even reject, the blandishments of the Establishment. At the same time, the adults in the room turn out, almost to a person, as admirable as education, supportive, loving, open-minded, and competent. Almost. As in any family real or literary, there are conflicts worthy of Greek drama. Nate has a mother and a dead father and two younger brothers, plenty of material for dramatic conflict. It is to Rochester’s credit that the novel does not swerve into the bathos of family pathology so prevalent in novels today. One of my favorite passages is a list of comments his mother makes when they are in the throes of conflict. Each item on the list is tagged by words like Descriptive, Curious, Practical, Pedantic, Dramatic… you get the idea. He turns experience into literature and literature into an experience we can all share. This is a literary reference in case you feel like sleuthing.
There is a third in the series called Anarchy set in 1970. I wonder what that could be about…
If you’re young and you want to know what your grandparents went through in the giddy 60s, or you’re middle aged and want to know what your parents were up to while you were racing your tricycles, or you’re old and you just want help remembering, read Jack B. Rochester’s Madrone, the second in his trilogy (or will it be a quartet?)
Madrone, we learn, is not only a rather beautiful California tree with tangled branches and many-colored bark (or perhaps a coat of many colors), it is a symbol of consciousness. And consciousness was what those years of war and rebellion were all about: how to be a better person, how to improve and grow without the help of parents strapped down by an oppressive conformity, the comfort of the post-WWII years. First the Beats set out on endless pilgrimage, then the hippies tore everything down in a fit of delirious, and certainly drug-enhanced joy. Of course it all turned sour, but not in this novel of true love and true-to-self rejection of the status quo.
Nate dedicates himself to his girlfriend Jane, and vice versa. I kept expecting the specter of diverging paths, if such can have a specter, to loom and slowly pry them apart. Was I disappointed? I’m not saying.
Nate writes a book, because Nate is, well, a writer. Like many of the literary figures alive at the time (Kerouac comes to mind), Nate refuses a college education because, and here he quotes Oscar Wilde, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” I don’t think Mr. Rochester holds to that since he has an advanced college degree, but his protagonist, who may be an idealized stand-in for the generation, is willing to resist, even reject, the blandishments of the Establishment. At the same time, the adults in the room turn out, almost to a person, as admirable as education, supportive, loving, open-minded, and competent. Almost. As in any family real or literary, there are conflicts worthy of Greek drama. Nate has a mother and a dead father and two younger brothers, plenty of material for dramatic conflict. It is to Rochester’s credit that the novel does not swerve into the bathos of family pathology so prevalent in novels today. One of my favorite passages is a list of comments his mother makes when they are in the throes of conflict. Each item on the list is tagged by words like Descriptive, Curious, Practical, Pedantic, Dramatic… you get the idea. He turns experience into literature and literature into an experience we can all share. This is a literary reference in case you feel like sleuthing.
There is a third in the series called Anarchy set in 1970. I wonder what that could be about…
December 26, 2014
Madrone continues Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers' coming of age tale, leaving behind the sprawling epic of friendship and adventure in Wild Blue Yonder for a more introspective journey through love and self-purpose.
The sequel retains some of the best qualities of the first, namely cultural and literary references, deep discussions about the meaning of life, beautiful, scenic locations and the camaraderie shared amongst a group of friends - all set to a soundtrack straight out of the late 60's. In fact, the novel plays more like a film than a book, as the music creates a richness of mood to many of the key moments in the story. For Nate, the music intertwines with his writing, creating a feedback loop of inspiration and expression. Nowhere is this more apparent than when Nate discovers Van Morrison's "incredibly beautiful musical spiritual poetry-music" and instantly feels an artistic bond that pushes him toward the ultimate goal of his writing.
Rochester builds his story around meditations on the meaning of life as experienced through the main characters, Nate and Jane. They discuss the essence of what it is to be a young person, to be a writer and to be in love, as we would imagine Chinese philosophers pondered long ago while crafting the I Ching. Nate and Jane's connection, as symbolized when they sit and interlock fingers to "Be Close," demonstrates what it is like to find one's soulmate and one's best friend combined into a single person.
All along, however, Nate struggles to both do the right thing and know what that right thing is. Whether it is with regard to his family, his education or his writing, Nate finds himself "going through things twice" and having to pay for not learning his lesson - a theme carried over from Wild Blue Yonder and a nod to Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again."
By the end of Madrone, Nate reaches a cross roads that leaves the reader wondering again if he has finally figured it all out. We'll have wait for the next installment of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers series for that answer.
The sequel retains some of the best qualities of the first, namely cultural and literary references, deep discussions about the meaning of life, beautiful, scenic locations and the camaraderie shared amongst a group of friends - all set to a soundtrack straight out of the late 60's. In fact, the novel plays more like a film than a book, as the music creates a richness of mood to many of the key moments in the story. For Nate, the music intertwines with his writing, creating a feedback loop of inspiration and expression. Nowhere is this more apparent than when Nate discovers Van Morrison's "incredibly beautiful musical spiritual poetry-music" and instantly feels an artistic bond that pushes him toward the ultimate goal of his writing.
Rochester builds his story around meditations on the meaning of life as experienced through the main characters, Nate and Jane. They discuss the essence of what it is to be a young person, to be a writer and to be in love, as we would imagine Chinese philosophers pondered long ago while crafting the I Ching. Nate and Jane's connection, as symbolized when they sit and interlock fingers to "Be Close," demonstrates what it is like to find one's soulmate and one's best friend combined into a single person.
All along, however, Nate struggles to both do the right thing and know what that right thing is. Whether it is with regard to his family, his education or his writing, Nate finds himself "going through things twice" and having to pay for not learning his lesson - a theme carried over from Wild Blue Yonder and a nod to Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again."
By the end of Madrone, Nate reaches a cross roads that leaves the reader wondering again if he has finally figured it all out. We'll have wait for the next installment of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers series for that answer.
May 26, 2015
Madrone is a wonderfully written, beautiful literary experience. I wouldn’t expect less from Jack B. Rochester. Madrone picks up where the previous book, Wild Blue Yonder, left off. We continue to follow Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers and his coming-of-age journey, as he struggles to understand himself, his relationships, and his writing.
What I love about Rochester’s style is just how every scene is masterfully written, made to be extremely relatable, especially when it comes to the relationship between Jane and Nate, but also the scenes that have a hint of magic realism like the journey to Elfland. I could see my own personal journey in Nate’s so clearly; an extremely interesting and sometimes eerie experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and was continually surprised by. In that way, Rochester truly captures the human condition. I can't speak for those that experienced the 60s firsthand, but it definitely resonated with me despite belonging to a very different generation.
I highly recommend this book! I’ll be rereading both Wild Blue Yonder and Madrone this summer; both are books that deserve a second reading (or third, or fourth!). I don’t doubt that I’ll experience something new every time.
What I love about Rochester’s style is just how every scene is masterfully written, made to be extremely relatable, especially when it comes to the relationship between Jane and Nate, but also the scenes that have a hint of magic realism like the journey to Elfland. I could see my own personal journey in Nate’s so clearly; an extremely interesting and sometimes eerie experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and was continually surprised by. In that way, Rochester truly captures the human condition. I can't speak for those that experienced the 60s firsthand, but it definitely resonated with me despite belonging to a very different generation.
I highly recommend this book! I’ll be rereading both Wild Blue Yonder and Madrone this summer; both are books that deserve a second reading (or third, or fourth!). I don’t doubt that I’ll experience something new every time.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews