The Monroe News Star (La.) had good things to say about The Night of the Comet in their review a few days ago. Thanks, Cheré Coen.
‘Night of the Comet’ a La. Coming-of-Age Tale
It’s 1973 in the small town of Terrebonne outside of Thibodaux and Comet Kohoutek has been spotted. For Alan Broussard, a geeky science teacher, the comet’s arrival means a chance to shine and for his intelligence to be validated among kids too bored to care. For his 14-year-old son, “Junior,” the comet’s arrival mirrors his adolescent feelings, a fireball of energy falling in love for the first time.
George Bishop pens this coming-of-age tale in “The Night of the Comet,” his follow-up novel to his impressing debut, “Letter to My Daughter.” In addition to father and son’s hope for exciting possibilities, both of which may be painfully crushed, there’s Alan’s wife, Lydia, also bored with her life and her tedious husband. She dreams of more, much like her daughter, Meagan, itching to leave home and seek out broader horizons.
The Broussard family lingers in limbo until the comet arrives, but its presence and the events surrounding its arrival may not be the answer to their prayers.
As in his previous novel, Bishop offers a delicate look inside a breaking family, examines the hopes and dreams of youth that stale as people head through life and the expectations we sometimes attach to stars.
Bishop earned an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he won the Award of Excellence for a collection of stories. He has lived and taught in Slovakia, Turkey, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, India and Japan. He now lives in New Orleans.