The Storm Season.

New York, NY Bantam Books, 1992. Hardcover First Ed; First Printing indicated. First Ed; First Printing indicated. Very Near Fine in Fine DJ: Book shows barely perceptible bumping along top front edge. Binding square and secure; text clean. Dustwrapper shows price intact. NOT a Remainder. NOT a Book-Club Edition. NOT an Ex-Library copy. 8vo. 306pp. Hardback with DJ. First published in 1992, William Hauptman's first novel (and apparently the last, though we should all hope not) came and went rather quietly. I was absorbed right away with the fictional city of Nortex, with the Drennan family, and with the nearly intangible sense of dread and disillusionment set against the backdrop of the Reagan Eighties. At the heart of this big picture is Burl's quest for meaning, symbolized by his chasing tornadoes all across the Panhandle. Hauptman is definitely a writer's writer, which is not to say he's esoteric or intimidating; if anything his prose is as clear and accessible as water. Every so often I pick it up again and am rewarded for my faith, largely by passages like this one: "The storm towered over him, a sheer wall of marble sixty thousand feet high. He had to stare straight up to see the top, which was still in sunlight, a great ceiling of gold. As he watched, it faded to cream, to rose, to ice blue. The lower levels were lead gray. As it rolled away, the moon seemed to rise behind it. Suddenly, the whole storm was lit by one incredible flash of golden lightning. Burl held his breath, but heard nothing." Now if only Hauptman would give us more; fifteen years is a long wait.