He has worked as a high school English teacher, a television executive, and movie producer.
The book, set largely in the town of Quartzsite, Arizona, is a cult classic of which Kirkus Reviews said, "[T]here's an innocence of time and culture laid out here that is sweet and true: the trip is irresistible, as good as American Graffiti, and maybe--for its sculpted, more than nostalgic shape--even better.
"[2] His second novel, entitled The Year of the Mongoose (Atheneum, 1981) was not nearly as well-received, with one critic dubbing it "a tired, toothless, virtually plotless satire on the network TV biz".
[3] Hogan was also a partner in Ten-Four Productions, a movie company based in California in the 1970s and 1980s.
The company's work includes Rainbow, a made-for-television biopic about actress Judy Garland, and one season of the television series Harper Valley PTA.