Alden Gray was adopted by the Shannon family from an orphanage and from that time on lived seven of the happiest years of his life. In Book One: "Alone Again Naturally," his many youthful exploits are covered.

But we all grow up, and he was no exception. "Ball of Confusion" is the continuation, and for Alden, most traumatic years of his life, till his awful retirement.

It starts off mildly enough with his four years through high school, but even there he had many conflicts dealing with teachers he knew, or thought he did, and the loss of a favorite--and the adventure of a Ring Day break-in to make a tape in the language lab!If you came up, or enjoy hearing about life in the mid to late 60's, you'll definitely enjoy this novel. These were turbulent years in our nation's history and Ball of Confusion doesn't disappoint when it comes to covering the many cultural and worldwide events taking place amid events in his life.

Topics like the Kennedy assassination, the I Have a Dream speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, events of the "Long Hot Summer" are all covered.

The fashions of the day as well as all the most popular music is also brought into the story. Any reader who lived through those years, can't fail to wax nostalgic in reading the many events, locally, and globally, covered in this touching novel about a young man who has to grow up much faster than any of his peers.

Alden finds himself alone, more than once, as we venture into the 70's. His dreams of finishing with a college degree were shattered as events in his life forced him to withdraw from the university long before he could hope to earn that degree.

All through the 70's, which this novel covers , Alden continues on a very bizarre roller-coaster life. Everything from being shot at, his draft notice at the height of the Vietnam War, and later attempt to join the Marine Corps on a "Buddy" system, to going through at least a half-dozen different jobs trying to work his way back into college, and even a planned exodus where he and some friends plan a move to Canada, and the consequences of those moves.

The birthday "party" thrown for him by an outlaw motorcycle club serves up more harrowing experiences. He discovers who the stranger was who brought him those silver dollars in the orphanage, and eventually discovers who his biological Mother is.

Having felt he lost any semblance to a "family" and after an intensive research to locate his bloodline family, he soon enough discovers that they are less than welcoming and only wish to acknowledge him as "an old friend of the family. " Some young members figure it out! Alden marks these years, especially the 70's as the low-point of his life, (until retirement which comes in the final volume).

However this volume is jam packed with action, humor, and drama from end to end, and will bring many memories to anyone raised in the 70's. To anyone raised in the environs of New Orleans, or Louisiana, the history, drama, and adventures will conjure even more memories.

Indeed, this period of his amazing life, are best described as a "Ball of Confusion. ".