An Ocean in Iowa is the story of Scotty Ocean, who lives in a small town in Iowa. Shortly after his 7th birthday his mother leaves his family and Scotty is left living with his sisters and father, a local Judge. Throughout the book Scotty is in denial about his mother leaving and goes to all kind of crazy extremes to make her come back.I had been wanting to read more books that take place in the Midwest, and specifically in Iowa, where I grew up, so I had high expectations for this book. Unfortunately it didn't meet them. I felt like this book would have been much more suited to being a short story. There really wasn't enough of a plot to sustain an entire book. The ending was also really silly. In fact, I had to look it up online to make sure there weren't pages missing. It just kind of stopped.There were a lot of similarities to this book and A Prayer For Owen Meany, but in the end Hedges clearly does not have the talent that Irving does.
A few parts of this book kinda creeped me out with what little Scotty's friend, Andrew, did. It made me uncomfortable. I don't think these situations had to be part of the story...or at least, they could have been worded differently. On a whole, the book was rather sad. We see Scotty excitedly turn 7, and immediately everything goes downhill for him. Some kids can handle family stress well, but little Scotty couldn't. *I just happened to find this book while browsing our local public library and saw the word "Iowa" on the cover, and being an Iowan, I checked it out.
Do You like book An Ocean In Iowa (1999)?
I picked up this book at the library one day, insearch of something (anything) to read. "Never judge a book by it's cover", we've all heard that, but there was something about the cover of the book that pulled me to read this story. This book follows Scotty Ocean, who is turning 7. I had a bad taste in my mouth as soon as it described the way Scotty was conceived and then not especially wanted by his mother. Up until the boy turns 7 years old, he and his mother a very close. Later in the book, I
—Brandi
Not sure this even deserves 1 star. No closure & no help for Scotty (or his sister who was sexually assaulted). Sorry I wasted my time reading this......
—Kim
I so hate that this book often gets overlooked because of the popularity of What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Scotty Ocean will always be one of my favorite all-time characters. Whenever I run into the occasional reader who has actually read this book, I scream, "Purple mountains majesty!!" They get it, and so will you if you read this book. You will cry and laugh at the same time while reading this book. You will cringe as you remember being in elementary school with a teacher who just doesn't get it. You will, most of all, sometimes agree with Scotty and demand that you always be seven.
—Trish
