“…a novel that offers a lively portrait of the realistic and fantasy life of a Pentagon staff officer.”–Madelyn R. Creedon, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense.
In Micah Harris’ new novel, Only Small Things Are Good (January 20, Pagescape Press), Joel Alden, a low-level employee at the Pentagon, unexpectedly finds himself at the nexus of power. Raised in a devout, rural Texas family, Joel grew up working on the farm and later as a mechanic in his dad’s shop. His people gave him a sense of what is real and true. He was also raised with a mission to protect the weak. That mission and his faith sent him to Africa to alleviate suffering. He returned an agnostic.
In this novel, less about politics than the reality of how government works, Joel’s origin story is interwoven with that of the present day realist, who brings the craftsmanship of a mechanic to his job at the Pentagon. Yet, in the Pentagon, he spends frustrating days writing memos for actions and initiatives that may never happen. Then he reads a memo that grips him, about the repatriation of released detainees and religious “deradicalization” studies, required by their home countries and funded by the U.S.
Joel’s critique and proposal to improve this program, attract the attention of his President. He asks Joel to take some time to describe what makes us American and how we might repair this thing. Joel is overwhelmed. Can one person speak such a truth and set a wrong right? Does he have anything meaningful to say?
Joel asks for the help of his perceptive ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend “Socrates.” But their abstract philosophical conversation pales against the good sense of Joel’s housemate, who has actually served in the military. Joel also pays a visit to his family and realizes the distance between his life, working in the Pentagon, and the lives of people who work hard in small towns. In the end, can Joel’s truth have meaning for a president isolated by layers of bureaucracy from his people?
A beauty of this novel is Harris’ voice. With echos of John Steinbeck and David Foster Wallace, this novel is at once earnest and self-deprecating, sincerely seeking what’s true with personal footnotes both funny and explanatory. The novel is a kind of universal wish fulfillment fantasy about having the chance to talk truth to power. It is the rare story that knits our political divisions together in a shared aspiration for America’s future.
About the Author
Micah Harris grew up on a West Texas ranch then moved to Washington, DC. Over the past 12 years he has worked in the Senate, the White House, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He holds an MA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College and works as a consultant for the Department of Defense. Only Small things Are Goodis his first published novel.
Pagescape Press is a publishing cooperative. Originally founded as a virtual publishing house specializing in e-book editions, it now offers paperback versions of selected titles as well. It features works of literary merit, including poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, in the arts, sciences, and humanities. A list of its titles can be found on its website at www.pagescapepress.com.
Source:
http://notanotherbookreview.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-pentagon-employee-unearths-truth-for.html
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