| The press release bills this book as a love story, I | | | | the relationship would have been viewed as charming, |
| disagree, it is a story about love. Specifically one | | | | how strange our society is. We have become |
| man's search for an everlasting love. We meet | | | | conditioned to a set of rules, or mores, and when we |
| Wayne Cavanaugh as a sophmore attending the | | | | stray outside the boundaries the walls come up. It is |
| rather blue collar Drexel College where he is studying | | | | interesting to watch as this couple matures, Nancy |
| engineering. Through flashbacks author Rob Costelloe | | | | gradually working on elevating Wayne's social status, |
| explores Wayne's young life and his fascination with | | | | and Wayne while not openly resisting makes |
| the concept of love. More specifically his quest to | | | | attempts, if not to actually stem the tide of change, |
| take love to a higher plane, an aesthetic that few | | | | at least slow its relentless progress. The question is, |
| people can appreciate, let alone achieve. In a chance | | | | is this perfect love, and can it last a lifetime? To |
| encounter following a purse snatching Wayne meets | | | | discover the answer you will have to read the book. |
| pretty Penn State junior Nancy Hammond. This | | | | Rob Costelloe has created a very thought provoking |
| launches Wayne off on his odyssey to find that | | | | book that plays on many levels. Part love story, part |
| elusive perfect love. Although he is convinced that | | | | social commentary, and part exploration of one mans |
| Nancy is the one, and Nancy certainly reciprocates | | | | quest for perfection. The standard of the writing is |
| the feelings, they have many hurdles to cross, not | | | | of the highest quality. He states in his biography that |
| least of which is the disparity in their social | | | | he has been writing since he was 8 years old, and |
| backgrounds. Nancy comes from a rich and influential | | | | that does not surprise me, he is a skilled and splendid |
| family, while Wayne is from a very working class | | | | wordsmith. The ending of the book comes with a |
| one. Of course this problem matters little to the | | | | very strange twist in the tale, and one that will |
| young lovers, however their families and to a certain | | | | surprise the reader. About Rob Costelloe: After |
| extent their friends are a whole different situation. | | | | college, besides pursuing an engineering career in the |
| Some view Wayne as an opportunist while others | | | | Gulf Coast region, Rob Costelloe wrote more stories, |
| are less kind and lean towards thinking him a gold | | | | a teeth-cutting, first novel, and a little poetry. By |
| digger. With grit and determination the couple | | | | now, his interest focused on the question of what |
| weather the storms and as time passes most of the | | | | romantic love can achieve in people's lives. To pursue |
| protagonists grudgingly accept the pair and their love | | | | this theme, he studied the work of many authors |
| for each other. The families though remain at | | | | and filmmakers. He and his wife live near Houston, |
| loggerheads with their children. One thing that popped | | | | TX. |
| into my head while reading Coinage Of Commitment | | | | Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. |
| was had the roles been reversed with him being | | | | With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot |
| from an affluent family and her the poor country girl | | | | of books! |