The Endless Road by Roger Treat - 2nd Printing from 1960
The Endless Road by Roger Treat
This book is a 2nd Printing from April 1960.
Peter Fletcher had been an active alcoholic for twenty-five years. In the slow, tortuous betrayal of his own life Peter has become a travesty of himself, the wreck of what had once been a fine athlete and an outstanding newspaperman. The tragedy is further heightened by the complex and strangely perverse attitude of his wife toward his alcoholism.
As the novel opens, Peter, having exhausted his supply of liquor, is seen stealing one hundred dollars from his wife's handbag in a sleazy Chicago hotel room in order to buy more whiskey. Then he abandons her and vanishes into the Chicago night, lost to his fierce and shameless compulsion.
One man in the world has the power to control Peter. Jonny Baker and Peter had been inseparable in school and college, had gone through the war together, and had worked together on newspapers.
It was to Peter that Jonny owed his life, and it is to Jonny that Peter's wife now turns for help. But a grim courage, a rigid self-control, is necessary to Jonny now. He had himself been rescued from alcoholic oblivion by Alcoholics Anonymous, and being with Peter again would mean fighting his own battle once more.
Building powerful scene upon scene in a spare, vigorous prose, Mr. Treat follows these two men through the labyrinth of succeeding days-as Jonny, in an attempt to save his friend, is again compelled to fight off his own old temptation; as Peter, in the depths of self-abandonment, drifts from bar to bar and drink to drink until he finds himself in a smart hotel involved in a wild erotic affair with a sex-starved woman and in possession of more money than he has ever handled before.
It is Mr. Treat's remarkable achievement that what might easily have been a sordid story of despair emerges as a compelling portrait of a man in conflict with an obsession that must eventually destroy him unless he comes to grips with it, a man whose friend will go to any lengths to save him from himself, whose wife, despite the sordid tragedy of life with Peter, will forever run to him when he calls, and whose personal magnetism makes him irresistible to other women.
With mounting suspense, this fast-paced, dramatic story gathers momentum until the poignant and shocking crisis at the end, when the salvation of a man hangs in the balance. The Endless Road is a devastating account of the shattering nightmare of alcoholism.
Praise for THE ENDLESS ROAD:
"... A horrifying, authentic-sounding account of alcoholism."-London Times
"... A scarifying and clinical account of the helpless, hopeless world of the alco-holic."-The Listener
"... Because of its sincerity and its impact, this is an important book."-Daily Express
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About the Author
ROGER TREAT, a nationally known newspaperman and freelance writer, has been on the editorial staff of several newspapers during the past fifteen years and continues to turn out thousands of freelance words "in my spare time between the paper and the golf course." In addition to his magazine writings for such publications as Esquire, Coronet, American Weekly, and Sports Illustrated, he is the author of a number of books, including The Encyclopedia of Football.
Mr. Treat was born in 1905 in New Haven, Connecticut. During World War Il he served as an airplane pilot and instructor. The father of two sons and a daughter, he is married to Gerda Dahl, a prominent Ziegfeld Girl during the 1930's.
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This book is in very good condition with some minor wear. There is no writing or markings or writing in the book. The dust jacket has some edge wear and tears including a small tear on the middle of the front cover of the jacket.
Please view all of the photos for the conditions.