Hearts in Atlantis

"This collection of five thematically-linked short stories dwells on the legacy of the 1960s. They share a collective moodiness, a feeling of depressed hangover coming after youth has been lost and the nation has suffered troubled times. In "Low Men in Yellow Coats," 11-year-old Bobby Garfield falls under the spell of an older man his mother has taken in as a boarder (a father figure who introduces him first to literature, Lord of the Flies then to supernatural phenomena). "Hearts in Atlantis" is about Maine college students who mindlessly play cards instead of studying while the Vietnam War rages in the background."--Publisher details.