Everything Green Went Away

About the Book

Violence is beginning to affect every layer of society.  In the growing numbers of the elderly, they are confronted daily with the threat of generational genocide. Children murder their parents for their wealth.  At the other extreme, pre-adolescent children are fleeing their homes in alarming numbers .  Where do they go?  Why are they never found?  This is where our story begins---four seniors in their seventies---frightened by the growing violence in their neighborhood make the decision to evacuate their Gramercy Park apartments and flee New York, taking up residence in Lake Saranac where they hope to escape the aggressive behavior of their children who believe their parents to be non-productive and unessential.

The children have a different problem.  They are classmates in Buffalo, upstate New York, and their parents are an assorted collection of deviants---alcoholics, pill-pushers, promiscuous, cynical and having no interest whatsoever in their children’s welfare. The kids decide to find a life of their own and here we have echoes of LORD OF THEFLIES as they struggle to exit in an adult world of greed and indifference.

It seems one of the boys has a father who has a lodge he never uses at Lake Saranac.  The children end up here and begin to create a life of their own.The old folks out on a hike discover their young neighbors who resent them at first but when they return with a peace offering the kids see them as loving grandparents.

The local police discover the trespassers, contact Dr.Weldon, Guy’s father who has received a tender letter from his son asking permission to live in the lodge.  Weldon doesn’t reply to the letter and tells the police to evict the intruders. When they attempt to do so they are confronted by the old folks who defend the children and make a deal with the authorities. If the sheriff will assign them custody of the youngsters, they will spend the evening with them preparing a hot home cooked meal and deliver them to the courthouse the next day.  To be arraigned in the event Weldon swears out a warrant.  The sheriff agrees.

The old folks and the children bond and promise to intervene if they call him for advice.  The children permit themselves to be brought into court and in a final scene the professor reminds the father that he has certain parental responsibility.  If parents refuse to accept this responsibility they will eventually find themsevles in a generational war.  The children are reunited reluctantly with their parents and the senior watch as they drive off back to a life that is highly dysfunctional.

About the Author

Norman Spencer Graham has moved through two other media before he approached the novel. His MFA in Theater helped him write and see mounted five of his plays. The titles of his plays are ARABESQUE, LEGEND OF THE SUN, AN EVENING WITH PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY, AN APPETITE FOR JADE and RETURN ENGAGEMENT. He has also written five original screenplays. NIGHT OF THE SERPENT (cult horror film) THE RAGPICKER, NEVER LOOK BACK, MONDO EROTICA and ONCE UPON A SCOUNDREL Mr. Graham believes the stage gave him an insight into dialogue and the screen---a feeling for structure. Armed with these experiences, approaching the novel was less daunting. A CRYING SHAME is his fifth novel. He has also written DEATH IN GUATEMALA, THE FINAL OBSCENITY THE END .COM, and EYE OF LUCIFER.