The Stone Bruise

McCormick's ultimately disappointing first novel opens promisingly with a richly detailed account of Scott McQuaid's boyhood during the Depression in Ennis, Texas, and his experiences on the road after he is forced to drop out of high school when his father dies. Scott's quest for work leads him to California, where he takes a job as a dishwasher and walks the streets of Hollywood, dazzled by the technicolor life of the stars he sees only at a distance. When the U.S. enters World War II, he becomes a B-17 pilot, flying bombing missions over Germany, and meets Clark Gable, who becomes a lifelong friend. The air combat scenes are excellent, vividly detailing the fears of the crew and their humor in moments of horror. But from this point the novel becomes sentimental as it attempts to portray a man of sensibility striving for wealth and power. Scott marries a beautiful debutante, they have two children, and yet his life is barren. The narrative sinks into flabby cliches, resembling a B movie as it plods towards an obvious and overdone happy ending. (Nov.)