52 Books in 52 Weeks, it's called. The challenge is simple: read a book every week for a year.
64. Welding with children.
Short stories, caught my eye on Readernaut. The author’s voice is so good, I plan to read his earlier work (as happened with Joseph O’Neill). Set in a pre-9/11, pre-financial crisis U.S., in a pre-Katrina Louisiana, where hard lives still seemed redeemable by good choices. Differs from many other collections of short stories I’ve read, in that the characters don’t descend into depravity and hopelessness but more often than not make the good choice and pull up from the tailspin. Highlights include the title story, about the grandfather embarrassed with his parenting skills who turns it around with his grandkids after a hard word from an oldtimer; Resistance, in which another oldtimer helps his neighbor’s school-age daughter with a science project, in spite of her father’s drunken rage; and the hilarious Easy Pickings, in which a ragtag group of poker-playing Cajuns disarm a would-be petty thief without hardly even trying. “What wins us over is Gautreaux’s powerful, often poetic mix of colorful detail and rapid-paced suspense,” says Andy Solomon in the NYTBR, and Amen, but I’d add that he’s pretty darn good with dialogue and character, too. Winner!
Joshua, I haven’t read the book but it is good to see that you and Zena are doing well. The last time Mary and I saw you both you were packing up and leaving Chicago. I would really like to send you an e-mail to catch up.
Peace,
Larry
Larry Boyd. September 20th. 2009. 10:56 pm.