The Zebra Derby

Home from the war, a veteran finds that his battles have only just begun in this zany and irreverent satire from the author of Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

Last seen gallivanting on a college campus in Barefoot Boy with Cheek, Asa Hearthrug traded in his varsity jacket for khaki and fought his way across the Pacific. Now he’s back in his hometown of Whistlestop, Minnesota, eager to share his war stories, but no one wants to listen—they’ve already seen the movies.

Postwar America is a brave new plastic world, and Asa’s girlfriend dreams of settling down in a house made entirely of the synthetic material. To help make Lodestone La Toole’s fantasy a reality, Asa seeks his fortune in vitamin-infused cookie cutters, junkyard fan lamps, airplane fishing trips, and mobile culture emporiums. A failed capitalist, he flirts with communism but decides to rededicate himself to college instead. If only his professors didn’t expect every veteran to be a window-busting, wall-chewing, bloodthirsty maniac, he might actually get some studying done.