Jeff Appelquist

The Great Wild West by Jeff Appelquist is a fundamental example of the American ideal.

The main character, Jedediah Magnus West, grows up in 1950s and 60s America. He has a fairly normal upbringing within the dynamics of his nuclear family. There is a sense of nostalgic homage in Appelquist's engaging description of a simpler time during Jed's upbringing.

As the book progresses, the reader is drawn into an intimate portrait of the West family and friends. Beneath the pretty package of normality and the archetypal family life, each character is displayed with a glaring truth of the past, present and future. From the gloomy and dire recesses of past experience to the fruition of status quo, the reader is privy to an eloquent and succinct introduction of these unique, individual lives.

Nothing is swept under the rug or ignored. Dealing with such issues as sexuality, race, and religion, the reader is given a realistic view of the many concerns that plagued most family values.

Following Jed's journey and evolution from Midwest schoolboy, to Marine officer, to family man, Appelquist outlines an amazing life that is indefinably American. An amazingly inclusive tale of "pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps", and adhering to a general sense of self-conduct and honor that seems almost a distant memory in this day and age; The Great Wild West is symbolic of what we as a nation seem to have left behind.

The book is heart wrenching, edgy, and beautiful: "Nothing is perfect, nothing is permanent... but anything is possible."

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