Ends in a Vowel & More
While scouring recent donations to the floating book shop, looking for something to read, I noticed a vowel at the end of an author’s name. The novels of fellow Italian-Americans always interest me, so I gave The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti a shot. I’m glad I did. Of course, she may not even be Italian or just remotely so. She grew up on the west coast. The novel, distinctly American, is set on the fictional Parrish Island, part of Washington, her home state. It is told from the point of view of a mature 17-year-old girl who has a big heart, a giver. She has no recollection of her father, who took a hike when she was two. Her life suddenly changes when her sister, older by two or three years, returns home married and pregnant. The latter has been a taker. Her husband was also raised by a single mom. He is a noble soul. The crux of the narrative focuses on whether the two will remain a couple. The side bars involve the younger sister’s need to help others, neighbors and friends. The only Italian-American presence is the older couple next door, the Martinellis. This is a story about life, about characters who resemble every day people. The author has keen insight into the psychology of human beings. My only quibble is that it is overwritten, although the wordiness may be seen as a reflection of the protagonist’s busy mind. The prose is sometimes clunky. The dialogue is solid. Caletti does not provide tidy endings to the problems. She leaves matters to the reader’s imagination. It is open-ended, just like life is until we “shuffle off this mortal coil.” 25 users at Amazon have rated the book, forging to a consensus of 3.9 on a scale of five. I say 3.5. Published in 2011, it is still selling modestly. There is nothing in it that would offend most folks. I’d guess it would be more appealing to women than men. The title refers to a list the young husband’s mom gave him. The author has 15 books under her own name, several in the Young Adult category. and others in collaboration. She has received literary awards and been nominated for many others. She’s got a good thing going. And here she is:
From foxnews.com, edited by yours truly: Black market thieves are stealing more than $75 million in old cooking grease each year. They’re raiding dumpsters before those companies that buy the waste get to it. It’s used for bio-diesel fuel and animal feed… Also from fn.com: A new study has found gluten in 32% of restaurant foods marked gluten-free. LOL.
From Yahoo’s Odd News: Liberia’s president is working from home after two snakes were found in the building that contains his office. Question — are they sure the critters weren’t politicians?… Also from YOD, edited by yt: A 65-year-old woman who played high school softball back in the day used a bat on a burglar who’d broken into her car. She said: “I took that bat and hit him upside the head, like ‘pi-yah.’” Cops later busted the 300 pound guy at — where else — a trailer park.
My thanks to the kind folks who bought books, music and movies in English and Russian on this very Good Friday.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts
Read Vic’s Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza
