The Straitjacket Waltz

Thompson's creation is one of infinite empathy for those who, for whatever reason, struggle with the exacting movements of the status-quo's rigorously choreographed waltz. His characters are hopelessly out of step. To survive, they improvise their own clumsy, stumbling waltz steps. As they take to the dance floor, they, by most standards, do appear to be quite mad. Captives in their respective universes, they passionately fashion and refashion their imagined places in the "real" world. Unyielding, their defeats are marginalized; their victories, however slight, embolden.

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A dark humor pervades the story as Thompson's cast of characters struggle to find a place, their place, without compromising themselves. This position on compromise makes it impossible for them to master the steps of the order's waltz. The characters efforts to create their own waltz steps are, at times, magnificently insane; wonderfully hilarious. At other times, they fail miserably and pay heavily for it. The book explores how fragile the mainstays of a culture become for individuals who seriously challenge their validity. Religion, often to the detriment of spirituality, requires a Leap of Faith to get beyond reason. Some can't make that required Leap of Faith. They are unable to ignore the absurdity of dogma. The characters call out the contradictions and hypocrisies while demonstrating a will to define their own meaning and purpose. Politics, the social order, family, everything is scrutinized by the thoroughly engaging characters in Thompson's book.

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