New book unfairly paints the Thumb as haven for losers, misfits, drunks
I just finished "Enough to Lose" by R.S. Deeran and have to say it's disappointing.
Published by WSU press, the book is hailed as an intimate portrait of the Thumb and the people who live here – their struggles and trials in a remote isolated area.
This is a series of short stories about people gettijng drunk, going to jail, getting out of jail, surviving the Flood of '86, getting drunk, deer hunting to put meat on the table, surviving the recession by cutting lawns of bankrupt homes, and did I mention getting drunk and lying to each other.
I'm not suggesting this behavior doesn't occur. It does!
But folks who live like this are not exclusive to the Thumb. They can be found in almost every community. All you have to do is bottom feed. Scrape the bottom of the barrel anywhere and you are bound to come up with crud.
This novel, which is well written and features many colorful charachters, paints the Thumb with a broad brush and it's a faulty picture. I've lived in the Thumb most of my life and there are plenty of hard-working, generous, kind, successful people here.
Unfortunately, their productive lives are ommited from these short stories, and that is unfair.
What makes this work even more disappointing is that it received a Michigan Notable Book award. Sure, it's a gritty story and I can see the snob judges thinking, wow, this is real, telling it like it is.
Unfortunately, the story does not tell it like it is. It's a sour and cynical look at life in the Thumb. Don't waste your time on it. Enough to Lose
R.S. Deeren
Published by WSU press, the book is hailed as an intimate portrait of the Thumb and the people who live here – their struggles and trials in a remote isolated area.
This is a series of short stories about people gettijng drunk, going to jail, getting out of jail, surviving the Flood of '86, getting drunk, deer hunting to put meat on the table, surviving the recession by cutting lawns of bankrupt homes, and did I mention getting drunk and lying to each other.
I'm not suggesting this behavior doesn't occur. It does!
But folks who live like this are not exclusive to the Thumb. They can be found in almost every community. All you have to do is bottom feed. Scrape the bottom of the barrel anywhere and you are bound to come up with crud.
This novel, which is well written and features many colorful charachters, paints the Thumb with a broad brush and it's a faulty picture. I've lived in the Thumb most of my life and there are plenty of hard-working, generous, kind, successful people here.
Unfortunately, their productive lives are ommited from these short stories, and that is unfair.
What makes this work even more disappointing is that it received a Michigan Notable Book award. Sure, it's a gritty story and I can see the snob judges thinking, wow, this is real, telling it like it is.
Unfortunately, the story does not tell it like it is. It's a sour and cynical look at life in the Thumb. Don't waste your time on it. Enough to Lose
R.S. Deeren
No comments have been added yet.
