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Author Darryl Ponicsan booklist (click here)

Book Review By Jack Goodstein
The Last Detail by Darryl Ponicsan

         Dennis Ponicsan's “The Last Detail” is the story of two petty officers who are detailed to escort a young sailor who has been court martialed for theft to prison. When they discover that their prisoner is a naive youth still wet behind the ears whose crime was a very insignificant theft, they decide to give him some real life experience during the trip.

They stop for a good meal and get him drunk in Washington, get him into a brawl, take him to a bar to meet girls in New York, let him party with some hippies, and even buy him some time with a prostitute in a house of ill repute. The more time they spend with him the more they like him and the more he grows as a man. The trouble is that once he realizes what life can be like he tries, somewhat half heartedly, to escape. In the end the two officers have to do their duty and take him in.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - humorous
Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's
Life of a profession:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast

Writing Style
Sex in book? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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