Fiction Review
The Shout and the Avalanche —
the Education of Billy Wonder
a novel by Fred Madeo
Paperback, 195 pages, $ 20.99
ISBN: 1-4010-2780-6
Reviewed by Michael Pastore
The American experience comes alive in Fred Madeo's historical novel, The Shout and the Avalanche. Set in New York City in 1939, the book follows the struggles of a 19-year-old messenger, Billy Wonder. Billy's encounter with his family and friends and co-workers, with the immanent war in Europe, and with his own sincere questions about life and death, all lead to immense self-revelations for this good-hearted young man.
Fact and fiction are blended skillfully throughout the work. We see the glorious and notorious events of that year -- the World's Fair that promised a technological utopia, the arrogant military aggression of Hitler, and the panic-causing broadcast by Orson Wells. Even more interesting is the emotional responses to these events, seen through the eyes of Billy and his friends.
Billy's inner growth is the heart of the novel; but the book is also a novel of ideas: the meaning of friendship; the importance of a good teacher; the trauma of war. Anti-semitism and anti-Jewish violence in pre-war New York are leitmotifs; and the reader might be shocked to learn (as I was) that in 1939 in Madison Square Garden a pro-Nazi rally was attended by more than 20,000 pro-Nazi fans.
Despite the temper of the times, the book does not lack humor; the language is colorful, and there are memorable lines -- fitting for our own age -- such as:
"Free speech, Prescott, means the expression of ideas, that's what the Constitution had in mind, ideas, not peddlin' hate."
Notable for its characters and ideas, The Shout and the Avalanche will make you laugh and cry, and -- most importantly of all -- the book will make you think.
—Michael Pastore
About the Reviewer
Michael Pastore is the Editorial Director of BookLovers Review and Zorba Press. Currently he is writing his fourth novel, and working to establish the Youthtopia Institute and Youthtopia website, devoted to children, creativity and the arts, humanized technology, and a sustainable world.
