Palms to the Ground

Meet Calman Pulowitz, an only child with bad eyesight and sensitive nipples whose parents have been sending him to a therapist since he was six to combat the inevitable dysfunction of the contemporary American family. Now thirteen, he has reduced his suffering to insomnia, fainting spells, an addiction to Pepto-Bismol, and a dependence on the Psychic Hotline. But Calman is about to have an adventure that might just change his life. In this first part of an original novel, Calman will travel out west to meet his pen pal and discover nothing is as he expects it to be. He'll meet Simon, the nine-fingered banjo player; Eleanor, the rose-scented bartender; Tank, the fix-it man with an odd speech impediment; and Rizzy, his pugnacious pen pal with a secret past. Out in an onion field on a windless night, he'll contemplate death and God, and begin to understand what it means to be a man.