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Now retired, Hawthorn feels the pull of visiting his hometown in New Jersey. Not sure how long he plans to visit, Hawth, as he is often referred, begins having regular lunches with his best friend, DP Ski, and telling stories. The two often take turns bragging about local legends and their personal involvement with the appointed legend. These characters mix in classic rock song references and popular books as they relate stories of proper pizza, relationships, and lessons learned through work and Little League.
Typically coaxed by the bartender and a few regulars who are looking for ways to pass the time, the two old friends spend their afternoons ribbing each other and trying to tell a better story. The characters have disarming personalities and a playful humor to assist in gaining the audience’s attention. They both like the audience's attention and have a healthy rivalry. The stories they tell primarily recount their time growing up, including stories about high school jocks, an enormous, solitary boulder that is a decades-old graffiti target, and how childhood shapes lives and personalities.
Hawthorn writes with a practiced hand, and his stories are grammatically clean, well-paced, and easy to read. The stories are driven by wit and are filled with a desire for introspection while also wanting to avoid anything too philosophical. The main speakers like to show they have more local credibility, wit, and common sense than others. This typically leads to small insults and playful verbal jabs. Overall, this collection has aspects of both a Cheers environment crossed with a little bit of the Seinfeld motif. Often, the stories start in one direction only to have the dialogue turn the story in a different direction. These tales rely heavily on nostalgia and the storyteller’s strong persona.