WOW! "Hot Rod" was the first really good piece of literature I remember reading. I was in grade school in 1964 in Fulton NY where it SNOWS!! Spent the winters waiting for the snow to disappear so we could work on cars in the good weather. I distinctly remember walking to the local library and checking out Hot Rod by Henry Gregor Felson and read it several times as I waite for spring. I was fortunate enough to meet your father several years ago at a car show, but cannot remember which one. I have since collected the boxed set, as well as a number of original hardback copies and read those books often. What a treasure ! Cheers
"Hot Rod" was a life saver! I did book reports on it in school every year from the 6th grade through the 10th...then the teachers caught on.... and at 54 years old, I bought and reread it about 3 months ago! great memories, and some good lessons in that book.
Thanks to this thread, I'm re-reading it again. Know what the funny thing is? My whole life, I always thought it was about hot cars, the adventurers of Bud and generally glorifying speed. But a few years ago, when I re-read it as an adult (well, as close as I'll ever be to adulthood) and realized it's about safety, and teaching safe driving. It's about consequences of spontaneous decisions affecting the rest (or the end) of your life. The book is full of prophetic passages that are as true today as they were then. Just too bad Bud blamed his car for everything. He shoulda tucked it away in a barn for someone to find 40 years later...
Like many others who posted on this thread I met Bud through your Dad's book Hot Rod. This was in about 1954 in the school library. To say it influenced my next 59 years would be an understatement. I just took my paperback edition down and looked at it. I was amazed . First printed in Oct 1950 in 1966 it was in it's 16th printing. Your Dad ,a Hot Rodding icon for sure and the messenger for many people who followed the path to Hot Rods and other things mechanical.
found a new book today " Two And the Town " by your Dad that was published(1952) after Hot Rod that i've never read. Know that his spirit is out there still touching us.
Hi hjfelsen.......... I'm glad to meet the sibling of a teriffic novelist....... Hello all I an a newb here ..... I was wondering if anyone knows the color of the Rod in " Street Rod "...... I thought it was a brownish , pink color ..... I just started my long thought of '32 roasdster project .... I received the frames on my 69 th birthday 12/08/09...... hope to finish it in a year + ....... HOPE i get a ride in it This has confirmed my wife's notion that I am nuts...... starting a project at this age ........ I LOVE IT .... THANKS ALL, Vince "older Rodder"
her last activity 6 10 2009?????????? i have e mailed her couple times asking when to order sets for me&son&grandkids anyone have any news
The car was pink with copper colored wheels and a dark brown interior. Good luck on your deuce, go for your dream, I am still living my dream every day. Just brought home my eigth deuce yesterday. I will be 65 next month. Never too old Dale
I read Hot Rod, Street Rod and the next one in that series, I forgot the name. They were relavent to me at that time. I enjoyed them a great deal.
Banger. I drove thru Fulton many times 1964-67 when attending Oswego College. In fact, I I carried the block and parts for my 296 flatty in the trunk of my 57 Pontiac for a year.Then Eddie Belanger, a sprint car racer in Fulton, assembled it for me for $50. And I don't miss the SNOW. Seems like every winter day was a blizzard.
Biggest problem with the book at the library when I was a kid...'54-'62......never there....always checked out....
'HOT-ROD' , a very rare book down here , I managed to get one a few years ago but had to pay big money for it .
I first read "Hot Rod" when i was in the fourth grade back around 1962. I am 55 now. I found and read "Street Rod" in the school library also. I was already crazy about cars and the books gave me a glimpse of a world I couldn't wait to become a part of. Years passed (about 35 yrs.) and I was lucky enough to find a paperback copy of "Hot Rod" at a Library sale. It had the same cover art of the book I had read in elementary school. I read the book and my interest grew in finding copies of the other novels. My brother gave me a hardback copy of 'Boy Gets Car" and this is my favorite of your father's novels. He understood exactly how a young person yearns for that old car which is his passport to freedom and adulthood. My wife bought me an autographed boxed set and it is one of my most valued possessions. Every time I read these books again the feelings come back, even after so many years. Your Dad's books were a gift that just keeps on giving.
I still have my copies of your Dad's books that I bought in school... Hot Rod, Crash Club, Street Rod, and Road Rocket... Welcome to the HAMB!
I found Letters to My Teenage Son in a used bookstore a while back. Have searche for others but no luck. Will find a set someday.
I have seven of his books., and both my boys have read them. I still reread them from time to time. Steve
My dad gave me this book to read when I was about 12 or so, which was only about 10 years ago. I was already way too interested in hot rods for my age (and time period for that matter) and that book just made it worse. I wanted to read more by your father but didn't have any means of finding other literature, so I just kept re-reading that book for years. I have no idea where that book is now, but I do know it is safe where ever I put it. I'm going to have to get that out, see how old Bud's doin!!!! What a great book, it seriously helped me define my life.
Hello, Ms. Felsen. I'm a couple months away from my 57th birthday. I read "BOY GETS CAR" sometime during my mid-elementary school years (probably 4th or 5th grade). Our small library only had one copy. There was a great competition among most of the boys to be the next one to check-out this book. I never forgot the book or the author's name. In fact, one of the first things that I seached Ebay for was a hardback copy of "BOY GETS CAR" - this was over 40 years after having first read the book. When I did my Ebay search, I discovered the other titles. I purchased the other books and read them, as well. I've kept them to give to my grandson, who will be 4 years old in another month. Hopefully, they'll mean as much to him as they did to me. Please accept a "Thank you" from me for your father's work. Darrell Fletcher Kingsport, TN
Nice to have you on here. Your dad obviously made quite an impression on many with his books. I was no exception. Now 67, I read Hot Rod in junior high followed by Street Rod, Rag Top et al. Like most posters on here before me, I was building plastic models and customizing the heck out of them and creating some (Monogram 32 Roadster cowl back with a Monogram Indy Car front was my favorite). I loved those books and to say that they made an indelible impression on me is an understatement. Your dad had quite a gift of understanding of the nuances of adolescent behavior to say the least. I'm sure you are very proud of him. Wish I could have known or met him.
I'm about 1/2 way done with Hot Rod right now. Truely an awesome book. It takes a good book to keep my interest.
later release of Fever Heat and a short story by H G Felsen in a paperback titled High Gear . Also got a hardback copy of Road Rocket a while back that I didn't think existed.. maybe done at a library to protect it from greasy fingers. .Can't wait for the latest release of Hot Rod.
I must have read "Hot Rod" fifty times and still have it. Also loved "Dirt Track Summer" by Galt but don't have a copy of that. Im 53 yo! "Hot Rod" was probably my favorite book growing up even if it did have a more than upsetting ending for a young reader.
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