A Walk-on Part in the War: A '70s Odyssey

Steven A. Babiuch
iUniverse (2008)
ISBN 9780595477906
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (8/08) 


There is not much of any real importance that I remember from the ‘70s, and I certainly did not experience all that free love, free drugs culture first hand, which probably makes that particular decade even more intriguing to me in retrospective. Steven A. Babiuch’s novel “A Walk-on Part in the War” with the subtitle “A ‘70s Odyssey” therefore naturally captured my curiosity.

Scott Sanderson, a very average Californian college dropout, decided to take a cross-country ride on his motorbike, all the while very much aware that his draft number could be called any moment now. Having spent some quite interesting days in New Orleans during Mardi Gras he heads to Florida next, where he is caught in a drug bust gone slightly wrong. Instead of arresting some big time dealers, the police catch Scott and his host, Ron. The two are not totally innocent, with Scott even having a joint in his possession, but they are far from real criminals. Scott realizes that he is facing some real jail time anyhow, so he decides to plead with the judge to send him to the army instead, knowing full well he is headed in that direction anyhow due to the draft. The judge instead orders him to join the navy. Rather reluctantly, Scott does so, all the time planning to get out of there as quickly as possible.

During his time in the service Scott visits many fascinating places, among them Hawaii and Singapore, and for his last post he finds himself in Puerto Rico. It is in Puerto Rico that he experiences his first real relationship with a woman, Carmen. Sure, he has had “encounters” before, but nothing of this kind, passionate, deep and long-lasting. In spite of all of that, he is unable to fully commit himself to Carmen; at least not at the moment. So the book ends with Scott returning to the civilian life in the U.S., still unable to make any lasting commitment.

While I enjoyed the ‘70s feel of the book “A Walk-on Part in the War” – with Scott’s ruminations on the system, establishment, older generations, Navy and life -- I would have preferred a more definite ending to the book. Who knows, this just might have been a deliberate way to keep the path open for a possible sequel. If it involves more of Scott’s dealings with his personal issues, family relations and some real conclusion of the story with Carmen, I’ll enjoy it even more. Keep on truckin’ Scott and Steven, keep it real!

Make comment on weblog