A Drowning In Swanson Lake

About the Book

“It was in the time before war, when penny candies and quarter movies anchored our lives…..the years were longer then, long enough to accommodate one's dreams. I lived in that time and beyond, staring through the night blackness into a world as infinite as my own. It would be years, many years it seemed, before I understood my world then was as fragile as the butterflies, which were already disappearing, and as ephemeral as the penny jaw breakers and double feature movies. The Cold War with its Cuban missile crisis, and threats from the Soviet leader Khruschchev to bury us, assaulted me in ways I was not prepared for. If wisdom followed age, I was confident I would not be blindsided again. I was prepared for anything and soon convinced myself of my newfound sophistication. That is, until the sudden disappearance of Ollie Magnusson, when again the lines of real blurred. I don't believe I refused to see what was occurring. I just missed the clues. Plain and simple.”

And so begins the tale of life, love, and loss in the small town of Swanson Lake. A suicide, an impending indictment, and a mysterious disappearance provide the backdrop for Hal Moffat's maturation in rural upstate New York in the years following the Korean War. Amidst it all, Hal grabs frantically at what is quickly disappearing before him, retreating into his world and that of his passion, Opal Magnusson. But when his pursuit for her love meets with unexpected results, Hal's world comes crashing down, and the town's least likely candidate emerges as the hero.

About the Author

Scott Gertner, born and raised in New York City, eventually moved to Iowa to study playwriting at The University of Iowa. Gertner then moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul where he earned a living as the Playwright-in-Residence with the Minnesota Playwrights' Center and with Actors Theater of St. Paul. His plays have been staged numerous times and have been finalists in the prestigious Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Competition and in the Great Chicago Playwrights Exposition. In recent years Gertner has devoted himself exclusively to writing fiction. Although he has earned advanced degrees in English Literature and has taught briefly, Gertner has elected to work part-time in everything from newspaper advertising to factory work in order to devote himself full-time to writing novels. He has traveled extensively throughout the world and has lived in many parts of the United States. Gertner currently lives in Connecticut with his wife, Deb, and their black Lab, where he has just completed his third novel.