New Jersey flavors both the author and the twenty-seven short stories of REPLAYS. Hawthorn would not trade where and when he grew up with anyone else on Earth. His colorful Jersey upbringing enlivens his tales--a place where the milestones of yutes fly by sooner than elsewhere. Stories occur in the suburbs of Trenton in local taverns with a rediscovered best friend, DP Ski. Or on a road, past a boulder, going down the shore through the Jersey Pines. Or in California, the Bahamas, and Florida--"You never know what you're going to get."

The stories blend friends and events replaying in the writer's mind for decades. While parts are fictional, Hawthorn experienced much of what happens. Plenty of humor, Jersey sarcasm, and eccentric characters permeate the narratives.

Hawthorn and Ski ponder and probe their past, personal dilemmas, relationships, God, what has value, lessons learned, and how they've changed. They single out life's little joys--ordinary things that bring happiness in small doses.