Thomas P. Hanna

A Master of Persuasion: a Novel Thomas P. Hanna

Larry Ritter arrives in Anytown with a secret agenda, a lot of self-confidence, a list of aliases, and a suitcase full of smiley faces pattern bandannas. He visits with many of the town?s residents and persuades them for various reasons to wear one of those and gather in Town Square that evening. A critical element throughout his many manipulations is that he must not explain to anyone his real reason for doing this. Ritter gives a smiley faces square free to anyone who agrees to wear it on his/her head - on a hat, under a hat, or without a hat; as a bandanna, a babushka, or a band. They agree to wear it at least at a signaled critical moment that evening but many choose to wear it all day. Being a good judge of character he quickly assesses and guesses what buttons to push to get various people on board. He even takes advantage of some local characters who are using a ?space alien communicator? to play head games with one another that has no connection to his project yet he finds ways to use that confusion to help his agenda. At the critical moment all is revealed and the various stories he told and claims he made are seen as not quite lies but means to an end that pleases almost everyone without seriously harming anyone but did he succeed at his goal?