The recent floods in Nashville make me wonder about why bad things happen to good people. A friend I used to work with almost lost his wife, his cats and his life because of the recent floods. I'd like to think that there is some logic to things happening like this but I don't think that is the case. There are times though that it makes me think that maybe disaster happens so that the people that feel like they would like to make a difference can.
This is an evocative, touching book. I grew up in Tennessee just a ways down the road from the hard-luck main character, Skid, offset by just a few years. Randy O’Brien knows the 70s in the South – what’s going on, the shifting attitudes, politics, being poor, and what it’s like to be a kid who’s good at some things but not others. Through the tumult of young love, misfortune and downright unfairness, Skid struggles to do the right thing – sometimes succeeding and sometimes not – while wrestling with the wild emotion of youth and self-discovery. It all builds to a climax that breaks your heart even as it holds out a bit of hope. I recommend it.
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