John Keegan

CLEARWATER SUMMER (Carroll & Graf, 1994)
"Situated in small-town Clearwater, Washington, in the 1950s, this coming-of-age tale depicts the loss of innocence of teenager Will Bradford, the son of the local hardware-store owner, and his childhood friends, a blue-collar tomboy and a budding Romeo. The author has given fresh life to the familiar literary world of the seemingly self-satisfied, safe-from-change Eisenhower era. Will's first-person narrative proves near perfect: this is summer vacation, his young voice says, with stock-car races, swimming in the Clearwater River, golf, county fairs, and rodeos. Eventually, Will and his friends discover Clearwater's dark sexual underside. A strong sense of place, solid characterization, and an excellent plot all work together to create this first novel's considerable power. Packing the punch of Stephen King's novella The Body, a classic of small-town life disrupted by violent death, this carefully crafted first novel is, in its turn, highly recommmended for public libraries."
LIBRARY JOURNAL

"'Clearwater Summer' conjures recollections of another little book, 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'"
THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL

"John Keegan is one attorney who isn't writing legal thrillers. Keegan's powers of description are precise . . . readers will see the rooms and faces he describes. They will recognize the people, without the characterizations feeling at all contrived. 'Clearwater Summer' is fine writing and an excellent tale."
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

PIPER (The Permanent Press, 2001)
"The sleepy town of Stampede, Wash., is abuzz at the outset of Keegan's fast-paced, warm-hearted hovel. Free-spirited artist Kathryn Scanlon, wife of newspaper editor Tom Scanlon, has just drowned in the Jacuzzi at the home of wealthy John Carlisle, Tom's boss. For 17-year-old narrator Piper Scanlon, Tom and Kathryn's death marks the end of the world as she knows it. While her father copes by burying himself in work and alcohol, Piper shaves her head in frustration and anger. Kathryn's slightly senile father, Willard (and his collection of stray dogs), moves in with Piper and her father to help out around the house. Besides the dotty Willard, Piper's only ally is fellow outcast Dirk Thurgood, an awkward teen whose father is an abusive retired army officer. Both Piper and Dirk are fascinated by classmate Rozene Raymond, a beautiful Makah Indian. As Piper manages the first tough months following her mother's death, she is forced to examine some of her naive assumptions - about her parents, about the nature of friendship and betrayal, about her own sexual identity and, most of all, about love. The absorbing coming-of-age chronicle culminates in a scandal, a tragedy and the revelation of a secret - dark events humorously punctuated by two wacky road trips. Though the plot developments sometimes spiral out of control, the quirky characters generally ring true. One hopes that Keegan (Clearwater Summer) will feature spirited, wisecracking Piper in a sequel."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"[Keegan] appears to be a writer much more interested in human character, and what loopy and delicious characters he's concocted here. John Keegan is an exuberant and playful storyteller, full of wit and unique eccentricity, which he shares generously with most of his full-fledged characters. This is a delightful novel, very funny, sincere, and memorable."
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

A GOOD DIVORCE (The Permanent Press, 2003)
"When Cy Stapleton's rebellious and dissatisfied wife, Jude, encouraged by her consciousness-raising group, divorces him to find herself, the Seattle lawyer ends up living in a shabby basement apartment and struggling to be a father on an every-other-weekend basis. It's a familiar enough scenario, but when Jude's new lesbian lover moves in with her and the kids start in on the pot smoking and suicide attempts, Cy's familial turmoil becomes a battleground in the 1970s cultural revolution. As he comes to terms with feminism, confronts the damage wrought by his controlling, emotionally withdrawn father and tries to stabilize his hippie ne'er-do-well of a younger brother, Cy is transformed into a new model of manhood, one that refects both traditional masculinity and feckless irresponsibility to accommodate the dawning paradigm of male sensititivity, women's equality and companionate relationships. Keegan, author of Clearwater Summer, draws a rich backdrop of period detail - everything from open marriage to Eight Is Enough - but keeps it firmly subordinate to a nuanced domestic drama. He resists turning his sociologically burdened characters into stereotypes, and explores how family members, even kids, grope for ideological rationales to make sense of the inchoate dynamics of daily life. This emotionally rich and socially aware novel touchingly evokes a time when the personal became awkwardly political."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

BIRTHMARKS (Short story, New Orleans Review, 1999)
There is no bond more adhesive than the blood between a parent and a child. But what happens when your father is accused of killing your mother? In this story, twin sisters find their loyalties to their parents and to each other divided when the winter flood in the Snoqualmie River basin floats the family's trailer.