Small Press Reviews Sean Malone

SMALL PRESS REVIEWS

TEN16 PRESS

TEN16 Press, a division of Orange Hat Publishing, housing fiction, non-fiction, YA and poetry books.

WWW.ORANGEHATPUBLISHING.COM

Tailspin (Historical nonfiction) By John Armbruster.

Review by Sean Malone, Editorial Writer with Ten16 Press

“…Cinematically Grand…” – Kirkus Reviews

History is always the most compelling when the human characters have a central voice in the drama. John Armbruster’s Tailspin delivers this in spades, chronicling both the dramatic events and the interview process of Gene Moran — an American airman and tail gunner who fell four miles in the European Theater of WWII and survived the fall without a parachute. Gene’s story of service and endurance continued with long months of captivity, interrogation, and the struggle to survive in overwhelming conditions aboard dark ship hulks or on marches hundreds of miles long.

Tailspin transports the reader through many decades, with the centerpiece focusing on 1943–44, presenting a vivid narrative of Gene’s wider story. Instantly, the reader is compelled to feel that they are with Gene and the rest of his crew in the flying fortress for the fateful flight, sharing in the sensory, frenetic experience of each tense moment of dogfighting and of the Rikki Tikki Tavi’s plummeting descent. These moments are complemented and contrasted with the quieter moments of Gene’s life outside of his service, such as his time working as a rural laborer and the different methods he employed to convince the drafting sergeant to enlist him. Presented alongside Gene’s history is the more private battle John’s family faces with his wife’s recurring cancer. In that regard, the narrative flow is smartly interspersed, taking the reader back and forth in a chronology that isn’t strictly linear.

By offering the World War II story alongside the more contemporary interviewing and cancer battle, the stakes of everyone involved are represented with poignant sincerity by Armbruster. As readers, we truly go on a journey with the author, yearning for the additional layers to be revealed in Gene’s recollections and ordeal. The heart of Tailspin remains an astonishing account of endurance and service conveyed by thorough research, with oral history expertly framed and supplemented by the author’s efforts. Yet the sum experience of Tailspin is a complex, emotional investment that takes care to tell the whole “story of the story” — and a reminder to not take for granted the experiences of interviewers, historians, and any who strive to convey essential truths about the human experience. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

TAILSPIN

World War II tail gunner Gene Moran fell four miles through the sky without a parachute and lived. Captured by the Germans, he survived a harrowing eighteen months as a prisoner of war, including a six-hundred-mile death march in 1945 across Central Europe.

When Gene returned home, he kept those memories locked up for nearly seventy years. His nine children knew little of their dad's war story. But when John, a young history teacher, learns of Gene's amazing fall, he's desperate to learn more. Finally, Gene agrees.

So begins a series of "Thursdays with Gene" interviews. Gene, nearing his ninetieth birthday, recounts incredible tales. But John has no idea what wounds he's reopening. Gene's nightmares and grief return. But both men persevere, bonded by their close and growing friendship.

As the interviews go on, John faces an ordeal of his own. His wife is fighting brain cancer. What will happen to his wife and his two young children? John must continue uncovering Gene's story of survival as he himself confronts the greatest trial of his life.