The Long Way Around begins in a fictional small, rural Oklahoma town, based upon the author's hometown of Calvin, Oklahoma in the fall of 1941. Similar to the author's own life, the protagonist, fourteen-year-old Jimmy Mueller's life is changed forever on Halloween of 1941 when his father and stepmother are among the five victims of a car that was swept away into "The River" when a bridge washed out. From there, the book weaves...