Donovan O'malley

Our Yank: Coming of Age in Oxford During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 Donovan O'malley

Donovan O'Malley's comic novel, OUR YANK, is inspired by his years as a student at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford 1960-1963. He describes the nearly surreal experiences of Leander Riley, a 17-year old American student, who arrives from California against a backdrop of possible nuclear war in 1962, to study at the 'Rossetti' School of Drawing and Fine Art. "It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union." (John F. Kennedy, President of the United States October, 1962) "Crikey!" said Sheila. You were a virgin! Damn it! I'm sick to death of sniveling little Oxford virgins!" (Sheila, student at the 'Rossetti' School of Drawing and Fine Art. October, 1962)