Bill Bryson has done it again with another book that
is full of funny and strange facts, as well as humor. The summer of
1927 was an eventful summer in American history, which included Charles
Lindbergh's famous flight; the great Mississippi flood; the release of
The Jazz Singer; Babe Ruth's 60 home runs; and the execution of Sacco and
Vanzetti. And if that is not enough, there is a full account of the
story that received more lines in the press than the sinking of the
Titanic, the "dumb-bell murder case."
Sit back, learn and laugh.
Sit back, learn and laugh.
--by Heather Lawson, Librarian at Hernando Public Library
My
favorite Southern writer is Carson McCullers, specifically The Heart is
a Lonely Hunter. I believe that the chubby deaf mute (Spiros) is a
Buddha figure and his companion (John Singer) is like a priest or monk.
John hears the confessions of all those in the community and comes to
the Buddha to ask for forgiveness for everyone in the community.
The
Buddha may or may not be in tune with another, larger universe. The
narrator leads us to believe that he is not and that to believe that
Spiros is anything but an uncaring, self-indulgent being is to suppose
too much. However, narrators are like oracles: they really do not know
what is happening to them. They, like McCullers, cannot be faulted for
making some conjectures about what comes out of the mouths (or out of
their pens), but they really do not know--in fact, they are likely to be
wrong.
It is a beautifully crafted book.
--by Ed Hughes, Director of the First Regional Library
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