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According to the book description of Steve McQueen Would Be Proud,
“Early morning steam rises from the pier pilings of the Subic Bay Naval Base as the shore patrol escorts a handcuffed
Fatty Fitzgerald to the quarterdeck of his new ship, the U.S.S. Dermody. Instead of a uniform, Fatty is clothed in a soiled
bed sheet. From that moment, life changes for the men aboard the Dermody, especially Larsen, a young sailor fresh from electronics
school. The year is 1973, the dog days of the Vietnam War, and the Dermody is beginning her WESTPAC cruise. With no enemy
to fight, the ship´s crew turns on itself in fits of racial tension, drug use and insubordination.
Enforcing his will with his massive belly, Fatty Fitzgerald brings his spit and
polish "rules" to the ship, intent on instilling the discipline of the "old navy" upon his electronics
division. Larsen must decide whether to bend to Fatty´s indomitable will, or experience the revolution with Goat, a
fellow technician and self-proclaimed hippie. Other influences are Sonny, the emotional leader of the ship´s blacks,
and Nettles, the bible-thumping corpsman who attempts to save Larsen´s soul, but loses his own. To complicate things,
Larsen falls for Juliet, the Chinese bargirl who steals his heart-for a price.
This 157,000-word novel takes place
at sea and in the exotic ports of the Orient. Larsen loses his money on the muddy streets of Olongapo, is chased back to his
ship by a typhoon in Hong Kong, and endures the Shellback initiation at the equator. By the time the Dermody arrives in Singapore,
Larsen has made a decision that will change his life forever. "Steve McQueen Would be Proud" is a coming-of-age
story that explores a world that no longer exists, except in the memories of thousands of sailors who served in the Western
Pacific during the Vietnam War.”
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One reader of Steve McQueen
Would Be Proud said, “There is no logical reason why I should have enjoyed this book, but I loved it.
I am an elderly woman who has no experience with ships or the Navy; yet I could hardly put it down. I opened it at random
and nearly fell over laughing as I read about this green, inexperienced, virginal, just-out-of-high-school swabbie who is
trying to light his first cigarette and having no success. Then I read Chapter 12 which was available on the net that describes
his first night on the town and laughed aloud at his bumbling, funbling initial attempt with a prostitute. Finally, his unbelievable
experiences on latrine duty alone are worth the price of the book. But it has more than humor: you will find disparate characters,
love, hate, loyalty, betrayal, romance, friendship, jealousy, something for everyone. Oh yes, and a smattering of sex. Either
Mr. Mitchell has a colorful imagination or he has included a lot of biographical material in this book. Probably both!! Even
the cover photograph is memorable. I heartily recommend this tale of a young man coming of age in the Navy and hope this is
just the first of many novels Steve Mitchell writes.”
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