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The Adventures of Audie Dale Smith
An epic novel of a boy growing up in a religious community and how his intellectual development creates controversy for him and how his unconventional attitude threatens his romance with a beautiful but devout girl.
664 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 13, 2022
A young man on the cusp of adulthood, coming of age in a highly religious, conservative world wrestles with his budding romantic interest in a girl who is equally as devout and perfect as she is beautiful and his need to suppress his home life which is less than perfect and religious. Through a series of hilarious adventures as he grows towards making the decision to either conform to his community to win the girl, or follow his own path and ideals. A great coming of age novel!
May 5, 2011
This really is an epic novel, covering seven years in the protagonist's life, from age 14 to age 21. The book follows Audie Dale as he starts high school until he graduates from college and leaves his hometown. The heart of the story is Dale's love for a beautiful but devout girl named Amanda Meeks. He first sees her at a high school assembly when a spotlight illuminates her lovely face. He's immediately smitten. In addition to her beauty, he's attracted to her serenity. She's a genuinely kind-hearted and spiritual kind of girl with a wonderful family. Dale feels socially inferior to her. He comes from a troubled family. His father, Blackie, a retired career navy man, drinks and swears; his mother, Jesse, is crippled and mentally unstable. Dale is also quite shy as an adolescent so he doesn't try to woo Amanda for several years.
The novel is set in the socially conservative town of Galilee, Oklahoma in the 1970s. The town is dominated by the Nazarene church and one of the interesting aspects of the novel is how a religious and conservative town is affected by the social and cultural changes taking place in the larger culture during the turbulent 1970s.
Eventually, Dale becomes a Nazarene so he can date Amanda. However, Dale's intellectual curiosity and contrariness creates problems. As the story comes to an end, Dale has a difficult choice to make: does he compromise his principles and ambitions to stay with Amanda in Galilee or does he remain true to his ideals and break from his hometown and his true love?
In addition to the romance, the novel is often very comical. Dale and his best friend, Rusty Grimes, play pranks and have fun. There's also some hilarious satire about the narrower aspects of religion and culture. The novel is long, a little repetitious, but well-written, funny, romantic, and philosophically perceptive. It's really an original work, one of the best contemporary novels I've read in a long time.
The novel is set in the socially conservative town of Galilee, Oklahoma in the 1970s. The town is dominated by the Nazarene church and one of the interesting aspects of the novel is how a religious and conservative town is affected by the social and cultural changes taking place in the larger culture during the turbulent 1970s.
Eventually, Dale becomes a Nazarene so he can date Amanda. However, Dale's intellectual curiosity and contrariness creates problems. As the story comes to an end, Dale has a difficult choice to make: does he compromise his principles and ambitions to stay with Amanda in Galilee or does he remain true to his ideals and break from his hometown and his true love?
In addition to the romance, the novel is often very comical. Dale and his best friend, Rusty Grimes, play pranks and have fun. There's also some hilarious satire about the narrower aspects of religion and culture. The novel is long, a little repetitious, but well-written, funny, romantic, and philosophically perceptive. It's really an original work, one of the best contemporary novels I've read in a long time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews