Mike Westphal

Cloud of Expectation (Book One): The In America Series Mike Westphal

Summer, baseball, and Ricky Nelson . . . the first stirrings of rock 'n' roll on the

radio . . . bicycles, soda pop, and puberty on the way . . . kids suspended between the Farm World, the Town World, and the Great World. Echoes from a hard past vie with visions of the future as kids thrive and dream in the cupped hands of a protective America.




'Moon River . . . crossing you in style . . . someday ---'




There'll be no more books like this because times, as they say, have changed. The book is a gift from way-back-then to now --- open it and board the Last Train from Mayberry.




"An accomplished, lyrical vision of a locality over several generations."




--- Kirkus Reviews




"I so enjoyed your first book --- I couldn't put it down!"




--- Gertrude Barnstone




"Rich with personal and historical detail and sparkling with clear and concise diction, the book succeeds in revealing the bygone, small-town life not only of Arkansas but also . . . of an earlier and simpler America as well."




--- Larry D. Thomas

2008 Texas Poet Laureate