User:Dhawkin4/The Nuclear Age

The Nuclear Age is a novel written by Tim O'Brien in 1985 and published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. It was later republished by Penguin Books in 1996. The book is split up into three parts: Fission, Fusion, and Critical Mass. It tells the story of William Cowling, a man who has been obsessed since childhood with the fact that nuclear weapons were going to end the world. The action begins with Cowling digging a hole in his backyard and quickly turns to flashbacks of his childhood, college years, and adult life mixed with current-day scenes. The action of Cowling's hole digging takes place in 1995, ten years before the book was published. The flashbacks tell the story of how he dodged the Vietnam draft, spent time with the anti-war movement, tracked down a stewardess to make his wife, and made a fortune with his former anti-war buddies which in turn leads the reader to understand why Cowling is digging a hole in his backyard.