A Long Way From Chicago (Puffin Modern Classics) Review
This "novel in stories" takes the reader to a rural Illinois farming community circa 1930, and features two Chicago kids who visit their grandmother for one week every summer. We never meet the parents, or (until the end) see the pair in the process of traveling. Each chapter has exposition, conflict, and denouement, making them all seem like episodes in a sitcom.
The author delivers this rustic world with pinpoint accuracy: county fairs, outdoor privies, Nehi soda, barnstorming planes, BVDs, homemade beer, and Model A Fords. The wealth of detail must have come from his own experiences, though the grandmother did not. To say she is not a traditional grandmother would be an understatement -- she's more of a female Paul Bunyan. Grandma commits many benevolent deceptions, all in pursuit of her inimitable brand of vigilante justice. Her physical prowess is always on display: she kills a snake barehanded, can clean and load a rifle, runs an illegal catfish trap using a stolen boat, and always seems to know the right thing to do. And she is never, ever taken advantage of or caught unprepared.
Throughout the long chapters, each representing a separate summer, Grandma sees that ne'er-do-wells get punished and the weak are protected. She feeds unemployed drifters during the Depression in defiance of the town sheriff, who wants the drifters to keep moving. She fends off a nosy big-city reporter, and uses the gullibility and greed of the local banker's wife to save a friend's home from foreclosure. Grandma is larger than life, both in person and in deed. In fact, she's no more like a real grandmother than Snoopy is like a real dog. She has more in common with Robin Hood than anyone else.
The book contains no illustration beyond the cover art, but one doesn't need it, as the author creates perfect visuals with his words. Young readers who enjoy being transported into the world of the past, perhaps even the world their own great-grandparents lived in, would like this book. However, the full effect of the cultural references would be lost on them, as would the idea that "Grandma" embodies our peculiar American frontier mythos moreso than any qualities of a mundane grandparent.
A Long Way From Chicago (Puffin Modern Classics) Feature
- ISBN13: 9780142401101
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
A Long Way From Chicago (Puffin Modern Classics) Overview
Join Joey and his sister Mary Alice as they spend nine unforgettable summers with the worst influence imaginable—their grandmother!
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Customer Reviews
12 year olds that liked the book - -
I thought of this book as music : ) genres it has something everyone likes :) .It is not like other books each chapter is like its own story. It was funny, loving, and sweet and I thought it was very good. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something different and exciting. It's a great read!
A Wonderful Family Read - L. Bradley -
The delightful book introduces the character Mrs. Dowdel, a lovable but prickly country-living grandmother. Each chapter reads as a stand alone short story, but the sweep of the book develops a depth of character and setting that leaves the reader wanting more.
Much enjoyed by and adult reluctant reader - M. Crumpton - Florida, USA
I got this as a gift for an older relative who is not a big reader. He loved it (and all of Peck's other books as well), and it has turned him into an eager reader.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 30, 2010 07:51:08
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