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MWSA Review
Man on the Floor! is a birds-eye view of Coberly's (fictional? satirical?) life as a military dependent through adulthood. A little boy's glee at having a jungle in the Canal Zone for a playground, his father's mysterious comings and goings, the internationality of his mother's extended family, and his own career are brilliantly described, often jumping back and forth through time. Veterans and dependents will relate to his experiences from "Vee-et-nam" to military housing to the simple but ever-present military I.D. card.
Coberly's depiction of a perfectly matched husband and wife team is equally pragmatic as it is sweet: "It looked to me as though they searched through a thick pile of laundry and finally found their other sock. Everyone needs their other sock." At times the book is funny and at times the book is thought provoking, but at 573 pages, parts are a bit tedious. Although Man on the Floor! could benefit from an editorial polishing, it is an engaging, entertaining book.
Review by Sue Rushford (June 2021)
Author's Synopsis
Dan Coberly's debut novel is original, funny, entertaining, deep, and sad all at the same time. A wonderfully unique, page-turning mix of satire, serious social commentary, and witness to signs of his times, it's a must-read story that must be told. He'll grab your attention with vivid descriptions of life as a small boy of a military father and a French war bride trying to make sense out of a brave new world in post-WWII Munich and Verdun. He walks us through youthful enthusiasm while growing up in a Cold War military subculture, wide-eyed culture shock encountering race relations, and anti-Vietnam war sentiments that became a scathing indictment of "democraZy". Somehow, he survives man's inhumanity to man during otherwise humorous careers as a soldier and a government bureaucrat around the world, shaping maturity and wisdom along the way.
ISBN/ASIN: 979-8726717074
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 573