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The Bamboo Lounge by Andy Hjelmeland

Benny Wilburs narrates his escape from a correctional forestry camp, alternating with flashbacks to his delinquent youth. Hitchhiking to Denver, he meets a homeless loner called Bones and a restaurant owner, Mr. Cheng.

About the book

The story begins with a first-person narrative of the protagonist's escape from a correctional forestry camp. His narration is interwoven by third-person flashback chapters that describe Benny Wilburs' life leading up to his latest escapade. We see him as a child, his developing delinquency, his adolescent infatuation with Belinda (a linchpin in his eventual rehabilitation), and other influences that shape his personality. In layers, we penetrate the psyche of this young man as he relates the details of his flight from confinement. These parallel narratives dovetail at the end of the story.

Following his escape, Benny hitchhikes to Denver. Along the way, he encounters a variety of characters who alternately befriend and deceive him. In Denver, Benny meets two people who will transform him: a homeless loner known only as "Bones," and Mr. Cheng, the owner of a restaurant who becomes Benny's employer and eventual confidant. Duplicity and benevolence compete for Benny's soul.

In the final chapter, Benny is back in prison, clearly a better person than the immature hoodlum who fled into the woods six weeks earlier. His story began in jail and ends in jail, bookends for his growth as a human being. It is a redemptive tale about change and our ability to create change in others.

About the author

I began writing in prison. Much of my early life was spent behind bars -- reform schools, work farms, prisons -- for crimes ranging from drunk and disorderly to robbery. But my alcohol-fueled walk on the wild side ended twenty-eight years ago. It was amazing how many problems disappeared from my life after I put the cork in the bottle.

Since jumping off the correctional treadmill, I have written four young-adult books: Kids in Jail, Prisons, Drinking and Driving, and Legalized Gambling. My publisher considers me a poster boy for bad habits, sort of a vice specialist. I have also published articles in Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, The Nation, and other newspapers and periodicals. Most recently, I wrote an article on ballroom dancing (one of my rare positive addictions) for Mpls.-St. Paul Magazine.

"The Bamboo Lounge" is a fictionalized resurrection of my escape from a correctional forestry camp in northern Minnesota. Although many of the incidents and characters in the novel spring from real life, I have freely embellished for dramatic and comedic effect. During my stint as a fugitive, I met some wonderful people (and some not so wonderful) who made a lasting impression on me. I decided to bequeath them to my fictional counterpart in this novel.

Archived from the Harris Literary Agency website. The agency's listing is reproduced as published, with contact details removed.

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