"Jon Brandow hits a home-run with his compelling and absorbing tale of the struggle for workers' rights in a Massachusetts shipyard. In Goliath at Sunset, Brandow illuminates the life and struggles of workers in what in the 1970s had been the second most dangerous industry in the country. But this is actually 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 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.” ~ Mike Matejka, President, Illinois Labor History Society 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. ~ Kurt Stand Read the complete review in Portside here.

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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