Billy Burton is a strange boy. Or, at least, that's what everyone tells him. He lives inside his head; thinking and thinking and dreaming and scheming. But this year-1973-his twelfth year on earth, is like no other. He is constantly under threat from the school psychopath; his dad is under investigation by the Senate Select Committee on Watergate; the odd girl across the street has taken a keen interest in Billy (and him, in her); Bob Woodward is after his dad (unless Billy can stop him); his dog (Mr. Pooch) is out of control and cannot be found; Billy has come into possession of a book entitled "The Happy Hooker" (and intends to decipher the meaning of all things "sexy"); he realizes his new (and only) friend is a juvenile delinquent; and he has somehow come to know the iconoclastic physicist, Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize winner), whose motto is, "Damn the torpedoes!"-which has become Billy's motto too. 1973 is going to be a wild ride for one Billy Burton. About the author: Phil Joanou has directed feature films ("Three O'clock High"-"State of Grace"-"U2: Rattle and Hum" etc. etc.) as well as documentaries, commercials, some television and several music videos. This is his first novel.