Sparkman in the sky & other stories

the long version

In story after story, Griffin's narrators attempt to sort out the confusing early '60s in rural Tennessee. Nascent men look to Hank Aaron and Rico Carty, Tarzan, Superman, and Captain Marvel, as well as to their fathers, older boys, coaches, and preachers for a model of manhood. Meanwhile, some romanticized version of the Vietnam War rages in the backs of their minds. In "Goats: The Courtship of Dixie Pepper," Hal's marriage crumbles, leaving him to ponder: "'Why does anybody need marriage?' I said to Marty as a summing up kind of thing. 'I mean what good is marriage when you can join the Army and blow things up?'"