An enduring story of sorrow and the quest for survival. With much of it told in a first-person voice which is authentic and touching. This novels visual and sensual power creates the ability to conjure up landscapes so vivid they can make the here and now simply fade away. The wind and snow, the sun, lengthy shadows and the sounds...they're all here! Young Stonie's predicament is foreshadowed in the first chapter. He's a neglected and lonesome young kid that has been left to survive on his own. He misses not having a family to call his own. He quickly learns to accept his situation...all the while learning how to rely on his instincts...one step at a time. The world around him often becomes more of an enemy than an ally. He experiences a strange ability to know things far beyond his young age and certainly beyond his limited education. Is this a magic of some kind...a gift? He's a friendly kid with a smile a mile wide and captivating jade green eyes. Born in Chicago in the year nineteen and forty. As often as not...he wears a pair of blue jeans, an old baseball jersey and his well-worn Keds. An irresistibly charismatic young boy...fortunately blessed with a maturity far beyond his age. Stonie is quick...always daring and sometimes shows unexplainable knowledge and abilities. Travel alongside Stonie on his journey from childhood to manhood. Beginning in the Midwest, he leads us on a fun filled and sometimes mysterious adventure spanning many miles and a couple of decades. A rich picturesque and certainly adventurous romp...anything but ordinary! The author's astonishing precision of imagery, verb choices, sentence cadence and rhythm, is most compelling. A clever rhythmic style like I've never seen before. His phrasing and paragraphs read much like that of a poet-storyteller. There's beautiful music on most every page as well as a lot of little poems and vignettes. In fact, the story line at times reads like a song. This seems to give him the vehicles to tell some compelling little stories within the 'story'. A fascinating era and a remarkable tale. I actually feel that he may have written this retro-saga on his Underwood typewriter. Recently, someone described Curt's style as - "Like skating in Central Park on a crisp December day." His response was - "Unlike the real world, writing allows one very special privilege...wish it and it will be. This seems to be the easiest way to go where I wish to go with whomever I wish." (c) Southside Kid productions Current member Society of Professional JournalistsAbout the Author: L. Curt Erler was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. His childhood was spent with a loving family of seven siblings and a caring mother and father. Curt and his wife Kathleen recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They have three daughters and six grandchildren. The Erlers have been residents of San Diego County since 1976. As an adventurer and business executive, Curt has traveled extensively. He has had a career in marketing management with two major corporations plus a marketing entity of his own and is a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army. When Erler is asked; "Where did you learn to write?" "My 'classroom' has always been the world around me." Curt's interests include; record collecting ... gourmet cooking ... writing his "little stories" as well as musical lyrics. Curt is an avid baseball fan. As of this writing Curt has four titles published; "Southside Kid" ISBN 1-4196-4352-5 "Mantilla Lady Visits Baseball's Purgatory" ISBN 978-1-4196-9540-7 "Heaven Bound In The Dead Of Winter" ISBN 978-1-4392-4473-9 "No Hand To Hold" ISBN 978-1-495291531