THE LEAST LIKELY ONE

by Alonso Gibbs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 1964

It's unlikely that any of the teenagers who red this book will share with 17 year old Harry Pike his ambitions to become a minstrelman or a fowler. In Harry, however, they will find many identifiable characteristics of a sensitive young man on the borderline between adolescence and adulthood. His father has been known as Happy Joe Pike, a highly popular singer and banjo-man, whose career ended when he lost his arm and his wife was killed in a carriage accident. In 1850 he was the embittered owner of a pet store, unable to demonstrate his affections toward his son, whose accomplishments he automatically down-graded. Harry, on the other hand, jealously admired his father's talents, and was frustrated by the absence of praise and other signs of affection. The beginning of his development as an individual personality occurred when, with the assistance of the old fowler Libbaeus, he set out alone across New Jersey to trap birds. His sense of loneliness was mirrored in the people he met on his journey and with whom he developed strong ties; the ancient Libbaeus, who had lived alone in the wilderness for so many years but who became dependent on Harry when he was bitten by a rattlesnake; Kelly Kilbain, a rugged but mournful prizefighter who, like Harry, missed his father's live and wanted to emulate his father's legal career; an idealistic orwegain nature painter and his wife who gave Harry a temporary home, and their daughter Oriana with whom Harry fell in love. Harry's feelings and the change in his relationship with his father to one of mutual respect have been delicately and tenderly evoked.

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Gothrop, Lee & Shepard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION