“Brandow weaves a telling text, capturing diverse voices, youthful energy, and a shipyard’s vocabulary and slang. Even if the reader is not a welder, the workplace’s cadence and challenges, along with the pride in craft, shines through. The reader feels Shea’s impatience for change, while facing a world that is always one step ahead of him. “Goliath” is the giant crane that looms over the shipyard, reflecting both the opportunities and the casualties ahead. For an authentic working-class novel, one can’t go wrong with Goliath at Sunset.” ~ Read the complete review in Power At Work here:

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“It is rare to read fiction rooted in workplace life, rare to read fiction that explores the inner-life of a union in conflict within itself and with management. Thus the value of Jonathan Brandow’s Goliath at Sunset.  Set at a shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts Brandow uses his experiences as a welder and a union officer to give Goliath an authenticity that is too often lacking in fictional depictions of labor.  Set at the time of the Iran hostage crisis and the racist violence that followed attempts to desegregate Boston’s public school, Brandow places his work in a wider context of events shaping the time without ever losing his focus on the shipyard. His writing reflects what he lived, the meetings, arguments, tensions, celebrations, camaraderie, disappointments, harsh language flung back and forth even between friends, all contain the ring of truth. ~ Read the complete review in Portside here.

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“Brandow is unflinching in his depiction of the abuses the laborers suffer and of the complexities that come with working for justice. The opening scene shows Shea’s mother dying for her rights, and his anger that he didn’t go to the picket line with her; the compelling start sets the tone for the story that follows. The author deals with the shipyard’s racial tensions head-on, and his portrayal of Shea’s efforts to gain the trust of nonwhite workers accurately shows the consequences of entrenched power structures and decades of lost trust. Brandow’s dialogue-heavy writing style is to-the-point and immersive… the final scene offers a powerful closing symbol.

A thought-provoking portrayal of worker abuse and labor organizing.” ~Kirkus Reviews

*

Rather than offering heroes or villains, Goliath at Sunset presents workers as they are—capable of courage, hesitation, generosity, and fear. The novel captures how dignity is earned unevenly and rarely guaranteed. At a moment when working people are once again told to accept less, stay quiet, or blame one another, Goliath at Sunset reminds readers what happens when workers stand alone—and what becomes possible when they do not. It is a novel that respects labor, understands its flaws, and affirms its essential role in the fight for dignity on the job and beyond. ~ Matt Alley Read the complete review in Blue Collar Writer here.

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"A compelling and absorbing tale of the struggle for workers' rights in a Massachusetts shipyard. In Goliath at Sunset, Brandow illuminates a story about resistance. About fighting back. A story about the real world complications faced by those who endeavor to do the right thing. The book is simply marvelous and so completely absorbing I did not want to even pause in reading it. ~Bill Fletcher, Jr., author of The Man Who Changed Colors and Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice.

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Brandow brings the late ‘70s and early ‘80s back to life through his protagonist, Michael Shea, a white working-class Vietnam vet. Shea gets a job as a welder in a shipyard, where the divisions are stark: white vs. Black, management vs. workers, old time union officers vs. militant new hires. But Brandow does not slip into easy good guys vs bad guys tropes. What makes the story seem very real is Brandow’s ability to slip into the headsets of all the players and show them as fully believable characters. ~ Tess Ewing, Past President United Steelworkers of America Local 8751

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Jon Brandow’s novel creatively illustrates the subtleties of union struggles in the workplace. Important reading for both up-and-coming labor activists as well as seasoned organizers. ~ Rand Wilson, Past Communications Director, AFL-CIO