An Ocean in Iowa
In a small town in Iowa, Scotty Ocean has announced that seven is going to be his year. It does turn out to be his year, but not quite the one he had imagined. It is the year his mother abandons the family. At first, Scotty does astonishing things to get her to return. When he realizes she won’t be coming back, he decides he must replace her. And when that proves impossible, he takes the dramatic step of trying to remain seven forever.
Funny, sad, and constantly surprising, An Ocean in Iowa explores the fragile contracts between parents and children and what it really means to grow up.
Reviews
Shirley Manson – Harper’s Bazaar
This funny and supremely moving book is full of hope and possibilities and robustness of spirit.
Jen Nessel – The New York Times Book Review
Hedges has the ability to climb into a child’s mind and simply look around.
Cynthia Hanson – The Christian Science Monitor
Hedges manages to make his novel a delightful romp through the age of seven with an endearing character who revels in life’s smallest details.
Patrick Beach – The Des Moines Register
Hedges absolutely shines….An Ocean in Iowa is funny, touching, mysterious, and absurd.
Liesel Litzenburger – Detroit Free Press
Peter Hedges’s quietly devastating new novel…is unapolegetically simple and pure, a sadly perfect little tale.
Dale Jones – Cedar Rapids Gazette
An Ocean in Iowa is a delightful read, full of fancy and vivid imagery of suburban Iowa in the 1960s.
Michael Giltz – Entertainment Weekly
Funny, unaffected prose…’A.’
Interviews
Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt
Peter Hedges, author of An Ocean in Iowa (Hyperion). The author of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape has written a new novel of childhood angst. Hedges explores his access to childhood memories and the difficulties of being a minister’s son.
hosted by Michael Silverblatt on KCRW – October 8, 1998