GARDEN GROVE, Calif., July 29, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The generation dubbed the greatest by Tom Brokaw brought an end to World War II. When they returned to the American shores, they found a changed society as the modern age was ushered in. Many dealt with the changes through hard work, which lead to increased prosperity. Others, searched for their place, lost amidst the changes, like the protagonist in the new novel, Monument to a Fool (now available through 1stBooks), by E.O. Molzahn.
"With a renewed interest in the 'Greatest Generation'--- the people who lived through the depression and went on to make sacrifices for our country during World War II --- Monument to a Fool follows the life of one of this generation from the end of the war to the post-war adjustments he tries to make as the world he once knew changed," Molzahn says.
Beginning in Europe in the mid-1940s, Monument to a Fool carries Kermit through the 1960s as he searches for his perfect life against the swirling changes of the American landscape.
Kermit Lockwood has been down in the muck and deafened by the explosions of World War II for what seems like ages. When the war ends, he thinks he is leaving a world where "man's inhumanity to man abounded." He longs for the "utopia" he has waiting for him at home: a perfect life he left three years prior to serve his nation. His thoughts focus on his beautiful, devoted wife, Penny, a supportive uncle and a bright future.
When he finally steps onto American soil, what he finds confuses him, sending him reeling into depression. Unsure of what has occurred, Kermit feels lost; his utopia vanished. Now, Kermit must set out on a journey to recapture the utopia he longs for. His journey begins inside his own home, but eventually leads him on a grand adventure that will carry him as far away as the Incan ruins and deep into the recesses of his mind and beyond.
Born and raised in Chicago during the Great Depression, Molzahn always dreamed of being writer. "For a man of 'the Greatest Generation,' marriage, World War II, family and earning a living took precedence," he says. However, many late nights would find him perched behind a typewriter pounding out short stories, poetry and, eventually, this novel. He now resides in California with his wife of 63 years. They have three children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Monument to a Fool is his first novel.
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