What Daniel Did With His Life

by Keith Hale

What Daniel Did With His Life follows Arkansas country boy Ben Goodman through childhood and adolescence, focusing primarily on the period when he crosses paths with the book’s other protagonists, Pennsylvania-raised brothers Ethan and Daniel Henry. Each boy has a compelling story, and when the stories are set side-by-side then merged, the result is both heartwarming and hopeful. The book is both a coming of age novel and a love story told in fine, understated Southern tradition, reminiscent of Eudora Welty and Flannery O’Connor.

Excerpt:

Daniel gently ran a hand across Ben's stomach, considering the possibilities. Ben shivered slightly, and Daniel wondered again if he was awake. They lay body to body in physical uncertainty until eventually Daniel asked, “You sleeping?”

Ben didn’t answer. And he didn’t move when Daniel snuggled closer to him and slid his head just below Ben’s chin, resting on his chest. Daniel could hear Ben’s heartbeat.

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Keith Hale grew up in central Arkansas and Waco, Texas. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Following a five-year career as a journalist in Austin, Amsterdam, and Little Rock, Hale earned a Ph.D. in literature from Purdue and took a position teaching British and Philippine literature at the University of Guam. Hale writes both fiction and scholarly works including his groundbreaking novel Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada (Cody), first published in the Netherlands, and Friends and Apostles, his edition of Rupert Brooke's letters published by Yale University Press, London.

Keith's books are available from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords, Scribd, Odilo, Gardners, and OverDrive. Readers may follow new releases on the Watersgreen House website or Twitter account (watersgreenhaus).

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read and reviewed this book when it was first published under the title Letters to a Shooting Star. I loved it enough to buy this revised edition and see what parts have been redone. Not a whole lot, actually, but since I loved it to begin with, that's not a problem for me, and I definitely like this cover better, so I'm glad I bought it and read it again. My original review still applies, so I'll copy and paste it here: This book covers the gamut of what I like in good fiction. It's got three main characters I came to love. It's quite humorous throughout. It also has moments when it is profound and thought-provoking. And from cover to cover it reads like a gentle breeze of a time gone by. The setting skips all over the place, from West Virginia to Croatia, but most of the book is set on a farm in rural Arkansas where the primary protagonist lives and where the three main characters come together. I'm not going to give away the plot. I'll just say that I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of what it was like growing up at that time in those places, and what I enjoyed most of all was the love between the characters. The book made me laugh, made me cry, made me cringe, and made me happy.

[Shane Pennell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book almost as much as Hale's Cody, which is probably my all-time favorite book. Like Cody, this one has characters that stick with you and break your heart. The episodic nature of the narrative and the overtly Southern narrative voice might not appeal to all readers, but I personally found some of the author's decisions brilliant and engaging, and I'm from the South, so I felt at home. The characters Ben, Ethan, and Daniel will stay with me a very long time, probably for the rest of my life. I love them all and wish they were my friends. All three are vulnerable and all have heart. Would it be too much to ask if at least one out of every hundred people I meet in life was at least something like them? I guess that's what good books are for.

[Alex Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The appeal of this novel is based largely on revelations about how lower-middle-class people live in rural Arkansas in the USA, and so it is more than possible that those who are already familiar with this kind of life will not be much impressed. The fact that at least technically it is also a gay novel, since some of the characters turn out to be gay, may not add much, because that fact is not entirely integral to its composition. Still it is a clever work and the personages are inherently appealing.

[Dr Leon A Le Leu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond-Bromance

I had not heard of this author before; I guess he has not heard of me either. I found the book well-constructed, interesting to read and at times gripping. The exploits of Daniel at times seemed a little extreme but maybe his father had it coming. The beyond-bromance sections were very well written and at times lyrical. Maybe the Ben-Ethan connection will be exploited in further works.