"Jack Eadon’s “Got to Make it” is a book about growing up in the sixties. It tells about the sweet and sour experiences of the author as a young teenager as he discovers the problems one has to face and the sacrifices to be made in order to achieve one’s dreams. Jack yearns to be a famous musician: a wish he shares with his close friends, Tom, Bob, and Bill. While Jack strums on a guitar, Bill plays a clarinet, Tom a ukulele, and Bob the drums. The four form a band, hoping to make a name for themselves in the music world. However, before that, they have to come to terms with their families, and more importantly, with themselves. A poignant coming-of-age tale, this book succeeds in creating a feeling of nostalgia tinged with sadness. The reader is reminded of his own childhood, and the loves and friendships of that period. The characters are depicted with an eye for detail, which results in the reader inevitably empathizing with them. The dialogues are well written and trendy. The narrative is fast-paced, and the tone understated. Jack also effectively recreates the atmosphere of the sixties.
The work is, in fact, an authentic chronicle of the ‘beat’ age, which featured writers like Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg, and artists like the Beatles and Elvis Presley. With this book, Jack does what Salinger did for the forties with his “The Catcher in the Rye”, and what F. Scott Fitzgerald did for the twenties with “The Great Gatsby.” Eadon immortalizes the sixties era in the pages of his memoirs.
“Got to Make It” is a must read for not only those who are interested in the making of modern-day America, but also anyone who loves music, and in fact, anyone who had ever dreamt, and then realized that dreams have a strange manner of coming true."
Bookwire
"Got to Make It" is an intriguing book that will be thoroughly enjoyed by lovers of coming of age novels that are based on a true story. The book gives readers a mesmerizing and sympathetic portrait of the ups and downs of a young man in a band during the sixties. Eadon has well developed memorable characters and crafted prose that draw the reader deeply into this story that will linger with them long after the final page. I highly recommend!
