num_pages: 308
description: "... a passionate and tormented novel about the summer of 1954 as it transpired in the lives of two young Korean War veterans returning to their Indianapolis homes.... it is possible that the current publishing season will produce no book more urgently felt."  New York Times Book Review, August 9, 1970"A brilliant book."  John Ciardi"Wonderful, sad and funny; a scathing portrait of middle America through the eyes of a new fictional character who will inevitably be compared to Portnoy and Holden Caulfield."  Gay TaleseNoted author Dan Wakefield's most famous novel seethes with pent-up frustration and confusion and nearly every episode bubbles with hilarity. Two friends return home from the Korean War to find their world—and themselves—irrevocably altered in this novel hailed by Kurt Vonnegut as “gruesomely accurate and enchanting” and “wildly sexy”Willard “Sonny” Burns and Tom “Gunner” Casselman, Korean War vets and former classmates, reunite on the train ride home to Indianapolis. Despite their shared history, the two young men could not be more different: Sonny had been an introverted, bookish student, whereas Gunner had been the consummate Casanova and athlete—and a popular source of macho pride throughout the high school. Reunited by the pains of war, they go in search of finding love, rebuilding their lives, and shedding the repressive expectations of their families. As Sonny and Gunner seek their true passions, the stage is set for a wounded, gripping account of disillusionment and self-discovery as seen through the lens of the conservative Midwest in the summer of 1954. Rendered in honest prose, national bestseller Going All the Way expertly and astutely captures the joys and struggles of working-class Middle America, and the risks of challenging the status quo. Author Dan Wakefield crafts this enduring coming-of-age tale with fluidity, grace, and deep humanity.
language: English
title: Going All the Way
titlecomplete: Going All the Way
characters: Marty Pilcher, Buddie Porter, Willard "Sonny" Burns, Peachie Casselman Belzoni, Tom "Gunner" Casselman, DeeDee Armbrewster, Bud Belzoni, Nina Casselman, Adele Festermaker, Uncle Buck, Alma Burns, Elton Burns
genres: 20th Century, Classics, Novels, Coming Of Age, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adult Fiction, Humor
ratings_count: 324
places: St. Louis, Missouri, Indianapolis, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois
publisher: Indiana University Press