Wasted Energies

Description

People spend time and energy in activities of debatable value, even when those things add to personal growth. Wasted Energies joins a family in transition on many levels as they evaluate and reevaluate their choices and the choices of their loved ones, while the freedoms, excesses and innocence of a bygone era play out. As the 1970s ends and the world prepares for the birth of a new decade, things that were simple are being replaced by things that will be much more complicated. Arts, technology and the social experience will soon be turned upside down. It is a time before digital music, personal computers, complicated automobiles, MTV and AIDS. Children have more freedom and more free time. The Jacksons are a family of five who live in a southern California suburb. Glen is in many ways an average guy whose quiet, stable, grounded approach to daily life underlies his fiery and competitive desire to do what he believes is “the right thing.” He is married to Fran who is smart and attractive but suffers from a mounting insecurity in her marriage and her career. Their oldest daughter, Kim, has completely immersed herself in her love life and athletics to the exclusion of all else including her ability to chart her course to college. Ann is the middle child who has always done things the right way but is quickly being introduced to new teenage adventures. Lee is the late surprise child, just 7, and is quickly learning that the world is not as simple as he thought it was when he was “little.” Wasted Energies is a fast and easy read with deep personal resonance.