Driven

Calvin Swain stumbles from a dysfunctional childhood into young adulthood, unprepared for anything except failure and confusion. The story is set on Long Island in the late l970s, where painters and plumbers worry about bills and the uncommon hero shines briefly and then gets drunk. The Driven is a confessional first novel, equivalent to many popular self-help books, but edgy, fictional and compelling, without clear answers or miracle bandages. Most of the characters are smaller than life but don't know it and can't do anything about it anyway -- except deepen their ruts with more of the same abuse: drugs, alcohol, religion and other mediocre responses. However, meaning is etched into everyday lives in a funny, gritty way as the rotating cast blend together, fight, separate or move on to the next situation.Calvin is a good Catholic boy in a pagan world and there's no mercy for innocents and orphans. He wades through the muck of changing times, searching for answers and relief from the constant burning as events propel him blindly through the tunnel of his own life. Readers who liked A Confederacy of Dunces and The Ginger Man will find the same serious, literate and sometimes hysterically funny type of novel here. In many ways The Driven is a guide book for lost souls and good intentions.Rohrer, Thomas Steven is the author of 'Driven ', published 2004 under ISBN 9781413710779 and ISBN 1413710778.