Review of Wild World

[Amy Rundle]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Wild World" by Peter S. Rush.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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The novel Wild World by Peter S. Rush is a coming of age story about a young man leaving university and trying to find himself amidst the Vietnam War. Steve Logan graduates from Brown University with the intention of enrolling in law school. Instead, he enters the police force in an attempt to make a difference in his town and to combat the corruption that is running rampant in the police force. Steve needs to balance the challenges of keeping his morals, while trying to fit in with the other members of the squad, who abuse their power as policemen, as well as maintaining his relationships with his friends and girlfriend, who disapprove of his career choice.

The novel is well written, well edited and gives an interesting view of what was happening on home shores while young American men were off fighting the Vietnam war. The main character, Steve, faces difficult decisions on the daily, and it is easy to empathize with him. The characters are diverse and contribute to the moral dilemmas that Steve faces. For example, Steve is required to patrol at protests where his friends are involved; his job may require him to intervene against his friends, which may damage their relationship. Overall an enjoyable story with a well written moral arc for the main character.

It is, however, occasionally difficult to follow setting changes in the story, as there are on occasion no spaces between paragraphs to indicate that the story has moved to a different setting. This makes the story feel disjointed. There are also parts of the novel that provide little exposition to the part of the story that is being told at that point, which adds to the disjointed feeling and may cause the reader to feel lost. Due to the time period the novel is set in, there is instances of racism and sexism, which may cause discomfort in some readers.

Overall, I would rate the novel three out of five stars. It is an enjoyable novel, and provides the reader with the opportunity to consider their own choices in the situations the main character faces, but the format of the novel does make it difficult to follow on occasion.

The novel is suited for a mature audience, due to the subject matter of the novel. I also believe that it will appeal more to men, because of the nature of the story.

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Wild World
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