Reunion At University Avenue
From SenatorAdams
Reunion at University Avenue is the debut novel by Kenneth Kerns, and features the fictional character Mike Adams, a middle-aged novelist and political idealist who struggles to identify someone from his past who may be intending to kill him. It was self-published in January 2005 via Lulu, Inc, and serves as the first part of The Mike Adams Series. While the novel and its 2006 sequel, The Proxy Senator have not met with commercial success, they have achieved a small following among student government activists at the University of Florida.
Contents |
Development
In 2000, for the website Opposition.org (run by UF alum Daniel Davis), Kerns offered a first-chapter preview of what a SG parody would look like. For example, drunk students would crash their vehicles in front of their frat houses, while every female of one political party had the same first name. The website, and the planned parody, ended soon after.
In 2000-2001, an inside joke among members of the Vision and Students Unite Now parties was that Student Government was so filled with drama that it could easily be made into a movie. Kennita Johnson offered that Ken Kerns could be played by Ben Savage, for example.
In 2003, between semesters at his graduate school program in D.C., Kerns set about to write down a memoir of his experiences. He soon realized that SG politics is not interesting enough on its own to merit a book, so he began to fictionalize the anecdotes, in part by setting the action much further into the future. The first draft, then titled A True Gator Party, took six weeks to write.
The futuristic setting was abandoned for a present-day environment, but otherwise that draft was largely unchanged when published in January 2005 under the title Reunion at University Avenue.
In 2005 and 2007-2008, the majority party at the University of Florida was named Gator Party, coincidentally one of the two major organizations featured in the novel. In late 2008, the cover design was updated and a few glaring editing mistakes were fixed.
Synopsis
When Mike and his college friends joked about Student Government being dramatic enough for Hollywood, they had no idea that in about fifteen years, they'd be responsible for bringing about a movie parodying their alma mater. Yet, someone among them is not happy with the work, and is willing to go all out to stop production of the movie. Did they cross the line in satirizing a secret society called The Circle? Could someone take Student Government seriously enough to commit murder?
Characters
Mike Adams is the protagonist of the novel. An idealist at the University, Adams becomes cynical as he gets older and confronts a Congress and a political process that allows ethics to get out of hand. He then pens a biting satire of campus politics, A True Gator Party, which is successful enough that his college friend Adam Ruppesberger offers to turn it into a movie.
George Avelli is a close confidant of Mike's, especially after his Gator Party pals abandon their campaign against the secret society. Yet, for all his efforts, his post-college career is unimpressive.
Ashley Woodard is a reporter for Time Magazine, covering the filming of the movie on location at the University. As events unfold, she tries to follow Mike's whereabouts, and ends up as a suspect. In the end, there's more to her following him than just professional interest.
Bennita Jones works in healthcare, but has largely stayed out of the public eye since her days in college. At Mike's urging, she comes out of hiding to help identify who is attacking the cast and crew of Ruppesberger's production.
Meta-novel
Each chapter of the book, except the first three, begins with an excerpt from the fictional novel A True Gator Party, which was written by the book's protagonist and quickly become a cult classic as a parody of Student Government. The unspoken premise is that the novel's anecdotes are both close to the truth within the larger novel and largely true to the real world at the University of Florida, circa 1999-2002.
Series note
After completion of the first draft of this book, Kerns considered three other possible sequels, but settled on writing two others to form a trilogy.
Other Notes
- Many anecdotes and story elements from this novel are based loosely on memories of the author's days at the University of Florida. However, the novel itself is not a true roman à clef, as the main story (a search for a violent stalker) is not directly related to those anecdotes and thus any connection to real events remains loose and unintentional.
- The novel's cover depicts a section of UF's Stadium Road, and not University Avenue. This is due to it being a picture the author took that seemed better suited, even though it contradicted the novel's title.
- The Independent Florida Alligator lambasted the novel in a review after receiving a free copy in early 2006; their primary complaints were of its "pixelated" cover art and other editing issues.
- The retail price was $17.99 for 2005-2008; when the cover art was updated, the author reduced his royalty rate, enabling the list price to drop to $14.95 at most retailers.
| The Mike Adams Series by Kenneth Kerns | |
|---|---|
| The Novels | Reunion At University Avenue • The Proxy Senator • Confirmation |
| Major characters | Mike Adams • Ashley Woodard • George Avelli • Jeff Simon • Sam Lee • Aimee Jackson |
| Minor characters | Adam Ruppesberger • Bennita Jones • Ben Burns • Rick Roberts • Nicholas Hickey • Peter Easley |
| Fictional organizations | The Circle • Gator Party |
| Related topics | Greeks vs. Independents • Legacy • "Old Walter" • Student Government • U.S. Senate |
