Morning — W.D. Wetherell

In this rich, compulsively readable saga about the brave early years of television, "morning" means several things. It is the name of the first-ever morning show, pioneered by a visionary who believed television could reflect the lives of ordinary Americans; it refers to the 1950s, a time of innovation and energy in the vibrant New York City where much of the novel takes place; and finally, it suggests the dawning of a new relationship between a long-estranged father and son who must meet the new century with their fates intertwined.

At the center is Alec McGowan, the creator and host of Morning, adored by women across the country for his intelligence and sex appeal, and by men for his earnest, direct way of talking. As the novel opens it is nearly fifty years since McGowan was murdered on camera by his best friend and co-host, Chet Standish. Our narrator is Alec Brown, Chet's son, a middle-aged biographer obsessed with uncovering the details of McGowan's life. Brown's research and the transcripts of his interviews with pioneers from TV's golden age capture the headlong intensity of McGowan's rise and fall, his reunion with his long-lost first love, and his struggle for fulfillment both on and off the air.

As Brown's work on his book progresses, another story unfolds: the building of a tenuous relationship with his father, who has just been released from prison after serving fifty years for McGowan's murder. Their comic, heartbreaking attempts at understanding one another and the resulting changes in the life of Brown's entire family gradually illuminate the true story of Morning, in all its meanings.

This unforgettable novel confirms W. D. Wetherell's place among the most innovative and powerful novelists now working.