JFK & the Muckers of Choate: A Real-To-Life Novel

(Hardback)

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In the turbulent times of a young man's high school experience, one must find his way, make himself known to his peers, and most of all, establish himself in the oftentimes hostile world he is trapped in. JFK & the Muckers of Choate takes a look at John F. Kennedy's time in high school at Choate, a preppy, Waspish, all-boys boarding school. As a Catholic at a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was rampant, JFK finds that his four years in this Connecticut institution are much more jagged, complicated, and high-stakes than he expects. Why It turns out that the future president actively defied Choate's sometimes authoritarian rulers and, in his own personal rebellion, associated himself with, and led, a number of similarly-minded iconoclasts who wind up as his closest companions, both then and afterward. JFK's chaotic and adventure-filled high school days, as narrated by JFK himself, not only tell us a great deal about an important, yet largely unchronicled, stop on his rapid journey to the presidency, but, because it's entirely based on real events, offer us a thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating look at a charismatic American icon whom most readers will adore, many for the first time.

Reviews

"Scott Badler has blended fact and fiction into a fascinating portrait of the 35th U.S. president's prep school years, from an intriguing perspective--that of JFK himself. Leavened with just the right amounts of humor and historical foreshadowing, it's a fast, fun read, and hard to put down."--STEVE WIEGAND, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR OF THE DANCER, THE DREAMERS AND THE QUEEN OF ROMANIA, U.S. HISTORY FOR DUMMIES, AND LESSONS FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION
"Fascinating look into an unknown chapter of our former president as a student. Badler's strength is in revealing how Kennedy developed empathy for the poor and disenfranchised while leading fellow students in fun-filled pranks and desired school reforms, experiencing his first sexual escapade, and interacting with his famous family."--ELIZABETH KOEHLER-PENTACOFF, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE MISSING KENNEDY: ROSEMARY KENNEDY AND THE SECRET BONDS OF FOUR WOMEN
"In 1960, the author, a second grader, stood on a California street yelling 'Nix on Nixon.' Six decades later, he presents a funny and serious account of JFK's prep school days. An enjoyable romp, it captures Kennedy's teenage voice at Choate boarding school, echoing Tobias Wolff 's Old School and the film Scent of a Woman."--OLIVER POLLAK, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

Author Bio

Scott Badler has been a newspaper reporter and a regular contributor to such publications as the Boston Globe, where many of his humor pieces appeared. In addition to having had published essays about the Kennedys, political history, and satire, he has written two non-fiction books: What's So Funny About Looking for a Job and Oh Brother, and Other Revelations on Family, Relatives, Pets, and Sex.

He has taught Humor Writing courses at Harvard and Emerson College.

A native Californian, he was born in Los Angeles but lived in the Greater Boston area for many years, some of them in the district where JFK won his first congressional seat in 1946. A graduate of San Francisco State University, and the holder of an M.Ed. degree from Cambridge College, he currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is his first novel.