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Act Locally
Act Locally is a twisted little jaunt through a small southern town that plays kick-the-can with all things sacred.
Sera wants to change the world, so she starts a chapter of Save the Earth’s Natural Resources (SENR) in her small hometown of Limax Trace.
Pet wants to change her life, so she joins SENR against her evangelist father’s wishes.
Johnny and Darcy want to change the fact that there's nothing to do in this backwater town, so they start playing eco-ninja.
Limax Trace has had quite enough of change, thank you very much, and just wants it all to stop.
An ensemble story told in alternating scenes featuring Walker, a one-armed blues guitarist; Cesar, his autocratic Manx cat; Walker’s brother Jackson, a right-wing judge; and an intrepid band of eco-warriors, Act Locally is part Zen, part Dada, and completely hilarious!
Sera wants to change the world, so she starts a chapter of Save the Earth’s Natural Resources (SENR) in her small hometown of Limax Trace.
Pet wants to change her life, so she joins SENR against her evangelist father’s wishes.
Johnny and Darcy want to change the fact that there's nothing to do in this backwater town, so they start playing eco-ninja.
Limax Trace has had quite enough of change, thank you very much, and just wants it all to stop.
An ensemble story told in alternating scenes featuring Walker, a one-armed blues guitarist; Cesar, his autocratic Manx cat; Walker’s brother Jackson, a right-wing judge; and an intrepid band of eco-warriors, Act Locally is part Zen, part Dada, and completely hilarious!
424 pages, ebook
First published October 9, 2012
105 people want to read
About the author
S.L. Vail
1 book2 followersI write fiction for teens and adults. Although cats insinuate themselves into my writing, I'm actually more of a dog person.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 30, 2012
This book was given to me as a review copy, so I was very dubious opening it up for my daily read. Books I don't choose for myself are met with suspicion... but as soon as this book said "but even so, it took two episodes of Toddlers in Tiaras to calm her down enough to take her afternoon nap" in the preface I was hooked.
This is a tale about social change, the kind of change that rankles this modern Southern Belle. I could relate to both sides of the story and found myself shaking my head at one's actions then nodding at the other. The conflict was beautifully illustrated, too, not only with an excellent placement of contrasting characters but even contrasting situations: the lives of cats vs the lives of humans. The lives of hippies vs. the lives of Southern preachers. The young vs. the old.
And the upheaval that comes from this sort of situation is encapsulated pefectly. "People've got it into their heads these days that life's supposed to be easy, the Judge thought." - ironically that appears to be what both sides are thinking in their own way. All are stuck in their own self-absorbed bubbles in a hilarious crash of soap and dirty water.
This is one book I had to give five stars to. No less would do.
This is a tale about social change, the kind of change that rankles this modern Southern Belle. I could relate to both sides of the story and found myself shaking my head at one's actions then nodding at the other. The conflict was beautifully illustrated, too, not only with an excellent placement of contrasting characters but even contrasting situations: the lives of cats vs the lives of humans. The lives of hippies vs. the lives of Southern preachers. The young vs. the old.
And the upheaval that comes from this sort of situation is encapsulated pefectly. "People've got it into their heads these days that life's supposed to be easy, the Judge thought." - ironically that appears to be what both sides are thinking in their own way. All are stuck in their own self-absorbed bubbles in a hilarious crash of soap and dirty water.
This is one book I had to give five stars to. No less would do.
January 13, 2013
Is it possible that Fannie Flagg and Carl Hiaasen have had a Love Child, and her name is SL Vail? Well, anything’s possible (as you’ll find, if you read “Act Locally”)…
I’ll just say this up front: I loved this book. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, ad infinitum. It's riotous, over-the-top absurdity to the nth degree. But the writing isn’t just witty and ironic, it has moments of beauty and poignancy. Let me get this clear right up front, though: those beautiful and poignant moments are few and far between. “Act Locally” is, after all, a farce. But what makes this book even more special are those moments of poignancy, and even horror. They make you realize just how well-rounded and talented this author is.
Right from the get-go I was drawn in by the author’s style. This novel is so well-written that I wanted to read every single word and hoped to God Vail had more books out there somewhere. She doesn’t. This is her first. Let it please not be her last.
“Pine box,” she’d said. “Shade tree. No more.” Pain caused her mother to talk that way, like a rock skipping across the surface of a lake.
Oh my. I wish I’d written that paragraph.
“Act Locally” is a somewhat cautionary tale: take care of the earth, or else.
But the joy of reading “Act Locally” isn’t in the moral of the story; it’s all the farce and prose that leads up to it.
With a cast of characters Carl Hiaasen (and if you haven’t read Carl Hiaasen, well, why haven't you?) would be proud to call his own, SL Vail has given each and every character a distinct voice. Hard to do with just a few characters; amazing when you’ve got about 30.
There’s Petunia, daughter of Babs and The Reverend Clement Shoat. Pet’s decided to become a vegetarian.
Her mother’s voice echoed from the depths of the Frigidaire. “No meat?” Pet heard her rummaging about, moving dishes on the shelves. Then a little cry of delight: “Oh!” she called. “How about some Spam?”
In that short paragraph I already knew exactly what Babs Shoat was all about.
Naturally, some characters play more prominent roles, but all are fully realized for what they are. Two of those main characters, the brothers Spivey, are standouts. As different as night and day, Walker and Jackson at first seem typecast, but as the story progresses and the reader is let in on the whys and wherefores of their relationship with each other - and the world around them - they become abundantly human.
The dialogue crackles and pops with energy and wit. It’s some of the most authentic dialogue I’ve ever read. “Act Locally” reads like a movie script. I could see, hear, taste, smell everything that was happening, yet the pace never lets up.
But aside from the dialogue, the prose is what propels this novel into the stratosphere with the likes of Hiaasen.
Take this simple paragraph: A woman with a face like the last apple in the barrel was sitting behind the counter, chewing gum in vigorous, close-mouthed circles.
Or how about this: Even though most of his intellectual equals leaned toward the sun when left in a window too long, Scooter could still put two and two together.
In those paragraphs you learn more about those two people than several pages of description could ever teach you. It’s a sublime gift.
The author has reduced the universe down to the small southern town of Limax Trace. The story is told through short vignettes, each one from the point-of-view of one of the characters. The plot is lean. Almost too lean until one realizes that may be the moral of the story, so to speak.
To quote one of the characters: People know a lottery is random, yet somewhere deep inside they still want reason. Else why would they play the same numbers every week?...It's like they have this wild hope that if they win, it'll confirm that there's some order, some reason, behind everything. And there's not. It's all random. A lottery is random. The universe is random.
And so, it seems, the events in Limax Trace are random: nevertheless lessons are learned and truths are revealed. Most of these lessons are tough ones. Such is life: Random, crazy, sweet, sometimes karmic, sometimes just plain weird. Kind of like the town and people of Limax Trace.
This book is wicked and irreverent. The author pokes fun at nearly every convention. If you’re easily offended, this book may be hard for you to read. I, though, found it an absolute joy to read from start to finish. Keep up the good work, Ms. Vail. I can’t wait to read more.
I’ll just say this up front: I loved this book. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, ad infinitum. It's riotous, over-the-top absurdity to the nth degree. But the writing isn’t just witty and ironic, it has moments of beauty and poignancy. Let me get this clear right up front, though: those beautiful and poignant moments are few and far between. “Act Locally” is, after all, a farce. But what makes this book even more special are those moments of poignancy, and even horror. They make you realize just how well-rounded and talented this author is.
Right from the get-go I was drawn in by the author’s style. This novel is so well-written that I wanted to read every single word and hoped to God Vail had more books out there somewhere. She doesn’t. This is her first. Let it please not be her last.
“Pine box,” she’d said. “Shade tree. No more.” Pain caused her mother to talk that way, like a rock skipping across the surface of a lake.
Oh my. I wish I’d written that paragraph.
“Act Locally” is a somewhat cautionary tale: take care of the earth, or else.
But the joy of reading “Act Locally” isn’t in the moral of the story; it’s all the farce and prose that leads up to it.
With a cast of characters Carl Hiaasen (and if you haven’t read Carl Hiaasen, well, why haven't you?) would be proud to call his own, SL Vail has given each and every character a distinct voice. Hard to do with just a few characters; amazing when you’ve got about 30.
There’s Petunia, daughter of Babs and The Reverend Clement Shoat. Pet’s decided to become a vegetarian.
Her mother’s voice echoed from the depths of the Frigidaire. “No meat?” Pet heard her rummaging about, moving dishes on the shelves. Then a little cry of delight: “Oh!” she called. “How about some Spam?”
In that short paragraph I already knew exactly what Babs Shoat was all about.
Naturally, some characters play more prominent roles, but all are fully realized for what they are. Two of those main characters, the brothers Spivey, are standouts. As different as night and day, Walker and Jackson at first seem typecast, but as the story progresses and the reader is let in on the whys and wherefores of their relationship with each other - and the world around them - they become abundantly human.
The dialogue crackles and pops with energy and wit. It’s some of the most authentic dialogue I’ve ever read. “Act Locally” reads like a movie script. I could see, hear, taste, smell everything that was happening, yet the pace never lets up.
But aside from the dialogue, the prose is what propels this novel into the stratosphere with the likes of Hiaasen.
Take this simple paragraph: A woman with a face like the last apple in the barrel was sitting behind the counter, chewing gum in vigorous, close-mouthed circles.
Or how about this: Even though most of his intellectual equals leaned toward the sun when left in a window too long, Scooter could still put two and two together.
In those paragraphs you learn more about those two people than several pages of description could ever teach you. It’s a sublime gift.
The author has reduced the universe down to the small southern town of Limax Trace. The story is told through short vignettes, each one from the point-of-view of one of the characters. The plot is lean. Almost too lean until one realizes that may be the moral of the story, so to speak.
To quote one of the characters: People know a lottery is random, yet somewhere deep inside they still want reason. Else why would they play the same numbers every week?...It's like they have this wild hope that if they win, it'll confirm that there's some order, some reason, behind everything. And there's not. It's all random. A lottery is random. The universe is random.
And so, it seems, the events in Limax Trace are random: nevertheless lessons are learned and truths are revealed. Most of these lessons are tough ones. Such is life: Random, crazy, sweet, sometimes karmic, sometimes just plain weird. Kind of like the town and people of Limax Trace.
This book is wicked and irreverent. The author pokes fun at nearly every convention. If you’re easily offended, this book may be hard for you to read. I, though, found it an absolute joy to read from start to finish. Keep up the good work, Ms. Vail. I can’t wait to read more.
December 23, 2012
What I loved about this book...the characters. The author did such an amazing job with advancing the story through each character. From the very beginning, the author's talent for transporting readers into the minds of each character was astounding!! I especially loved the conversation between Serendipity and the good Reverend Shoat. Reverend Shoat was upset because his daughter (who refers to her inner conflicting dialogue as Good Daughter and Evil Twin) wants to be a vegetarian and think it's due to Serendipity's influence.
Reverend Shoat: I don't want any books, I want my daughter back! Back the way she was before you twisted her mind with all this liberal, save the Earth hogwash.
Serendipity: Reverend Shoat, I can assure you, Save the Earth's Natural Resource's is not even remotely heathenistic. In fact, it has a very Christian philosophy. Christ taught us that all things are worthy of our respect, and I think...
Reverend Shoat: Christ taught? CHRIST TAUGHT? How dare you PRESUME to speak to me about Christ?! YOU could do with a little respect yourself, young lady, for your elders, and for the Lord they God! It is He and ONLY He who rules over this Earth.
You'll have to read the book for the rest of the argument but it was so well written that it reminded me of the many similar debates I've had with people such as Reverend Shoat. I recommend this story to anyone who likes to not only read, but to be thrust into a story that makes the world around them melt away, even only for an hour or two.
Reverend Shoat: I don't want any books, I want my daughter back! Back the way she was before you twisted her mind with all this liberal, save the Earth hogwash.
Serendipity: Reverend Shoat, I can assure you, Save the Earth's Natural Resource's is not even remotely heathenistic. In fact, it has a very Christian philosophy. Christ taught us that all things are worthy of our respect, and I think...
Reverend Shoat: Christ taught? CHRIST TAUGHT? How dare you PRESUME to speak to me about Christ?! YOU could do with a little respect yourself, young lady, for your elders, and for the Lord they God! It is He and ONLY He who rules over this Earth.
You'll have to read the book for the rest of the argument but it was so well written that it reminded me of the many similar debates I've had with people such as Reverend Shoat. I recommend this story to anyone who likes to not only read, but to be thrust into a story that makes the world around them melt away, even only for an hour or two.
November 27, 2012
Darcy and Johnny, a couple of bored teens who have serious issues with adult authority figures, are living in a backwoods town and looking for some fun, excitement, and vengeance. They use their association with the group SENR (Save the Earth's Natural Resources) as an invitation to "act locally" by pulling elaborate, not-so-harmless pranks involving vandalism and bodily-harm, always leaving an environmental-responsibility double-meaning message as a calling card. Act Locally is filled with a huge cast of intriguing, off-beat characters. The mystery is not who is committing the crimes and why, but how the characters' stories and lives are intertwined and who will be pulled in next to the crime spree. Smart and witty, this is a page-turner that keeps you thinking. Highly recommended.
Cast of characters include:
Sera - raised by Othena her recently deceased mother (one of the town's only African Americans) - she's taken on the family business of raising rare herbs used for medicinal purposes and religious ceremonies and has founded a local chapter of SENR.
Amy - Sera's Asian-American roommate studying science and always at the ready with some bizarre philosophical wisdom.
Amethyst - has a propensity for crystals, fung shui, animal psychic readings and the like in addition to taking over at SENR events
Tom - came to town to collect samples to complete his long overdue PhD in ecology slowed by his narcolepsy which causes him to fall into a dead sleep when he is exhausted, drunk, or stressed out
The Richards - Tom's flaming gay landlords
Jackson - raised by a cruel child beater, he turned out just as mean. A judge with severe anger management problems, he passes on maximum sentences without bothering to listen to defendants or their lawyers. The little and only compassion he bestows is on a boar named Newt.
Walker - Jackson's little brother. A compassionate and artistic soul who wears an oven mitt over his hook-for-a-hand (lost in an accident) when he goes on frequent drinking binges. Has a cat named Ceaser who roams the town and is a witness to after dark happenings.
Darcy - an indulged, angry teen who hates her mother, her advice-ladling stepfather Binky, her father and his anorexic over-achieving girlfriend Melody (who peddles Well Naturally products). She has a soft-spot for her little sister, a happy child who like a cat keeps to herself and doesn't want to be touched and who Darcy's mom is forever trying to "fix"
Johnny - an under-supervised, rebellious teen who lives with, cares for, and drives his drunkard father and has a love-hate relationship with Darcy.
Pet - Petunia Shoat is a painfully shy high school girl who has two voices battling in her head: GD (good daughter) and ET (evil twin).
Clement Shoats - Pet's extremely loud, controlling, overbearing, bible thumping father who sees everything as black and white and his daughter as a major disappointment.
Bab's Shoats - Pet's well-meaning, smothering mother who's guilty pleasure is singing country songs when her husband is out of the house. She has a pet toy poodle named Goliath.
Becky Spears - a Miss perfect type teen who outshines Pet in every way in the eyes of Pet's parents
Talamadge Sparks - a Mr. perfect type teen who is an active evangelist in Reverend Shoats church
Russell Scaggs - a rather incompetent, anxiety ridden public defender.
Imogene - a home-bound, germ-a-phobic telemarketer who knows how to hold a grudge.
Atkinson - a simpleton (lead poisoning?) who doesn't know any better than to dump chemical waste into the local water
Duane - lives in a trailer at the golf greens where he is a caretaker and dreams of becoming a pro-wrestler
Sheriff Scooter Spinarkle - the bumbling sheriff who got the job by popularity due to family connections, and his overly helpful Deputy Ralph Ickes.
Cast of characters include:
Sera - raised by Othena her recently deceased mother (one of the town's only African Americans) - she's taken on the family business of raising rare herbs used for medicinal purposes and religious ceremonies and has founded a local chapter of SENR.
Amy - Sera's Asian-American roommate studying science and always at the ready with some bizarre philosophical wisdom.
Amethyst - has a propensity for crystals, fung shui, animal psychic readings and the like in addition to taking over at SENR events
Tom - came to town to collect samples to complete his long overdue PhD in ecology slowed by his narcolepsy which causes him to fall into a dead sleep when he is exhausted, drunk, or stressed out
The Richards - Tom's flaming gay landlords
Jackson - raised by a cruel child beater, he turned out just as mean. A judge with severe anger management problems, he passes on maximum sentences without bothering to listen to defendants or their lawyers. The little and only compassion he bestows is on a boar named Newt.
Walker - Jackson's little brother. A compassionate and artistic soul who wears an oven mitt over his hook-for-a-hand (lost in an accident) when he goes on frequent drinking binges. Has a cat named Ceaser who roams the town and is a witness to after dark happenings.
Darcy - an indulged, angry teen who hates her mother, her advice-ladling stepfather Binky, her father and his anorexic over-achieving girlfriend Melody (who peddles Well Naturally products). She has a soft-spot for her little sister, a happy child who like a cat keeps to herself and doesn't want to be touched and who Darcy's mom is forever trying to "fix"
Johnny - an under-supervised, rebellious teen who lives with, cares for, and drives his drunkard father and has a love-hate relationship with Darcy.
Pet - Petunia Shoat is a painfully shy high school girl who has two voices battling in her head: GD (good daughter) and ET (evil twin).
Clement Shoats - Pet's extremely loud, controlling, overbearing, bible thumping father who sees everything as black and white and his daughter as a major disappointment.
Bab's Shoats - Pet's well-meaning, smothering mother who's guilty pleasure is singing country songs when her husband is out of the house. She has a pet toy poodle named Goliath.
Becky Spears - a Miss perfect type teen who outshines Pet in every way in the eyes of Pet's parents
Talamadge Sparks - a Mr. perfect type teen who is an active evangelist in Reverend Shoats church
Russell Scaggs - a rather incompetent, anxiety ridden public defender.
Imogene - a home-bound, germ-a-phobic telemarketer who knows how to hold a grudge.
Atkinson - a simpleton (lead poisoning?) who doesn't know any better than to dump chemical waste into the local water
Duane - lives in a trailer at the golf greens where he is a caretaker and dreams of becoming a pro-wrestler
Sheriff Scooter Spinarkle - the bumbling sheriff who got the job by popularity due to family connections, and his overly helpful Deputy Ralph Ickes.
January 17, 2013
SL Vail’s ACT LOCALLY is a darkly comic look at life in a small Southern town. Limax Trace is populated by a wacky assortment of quirky characters, including environmental activist Sera Baucum (who’s growing Belladonna in her greenhouse), reclusive artist Walker Spivey (who was a musician until he lost his hand in a freak accident), Walker’s right-wing brother Jackson (who’s in love with his pig, Newt), frustrated teenager Pet Shoat (whose evangelical minister father wants her to be a good Christian Princess), perennial graduate student Tom Putnam (who suffers from an embarrassing case of narcolepsy), radical teens-on-a-mission Johnny and Darcy (who have a lot of people to get back at), and Cesar (a cat with more common sense than most of the other characters put together). Vail shifts perspective among these and other characters, giving the reader a hysterical picture of small-town American life.
Vail’s prose is crisp and funny, with plenty of sarcastic banter and outrageous comedy. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times, which is rare for me. At the same time, I must admit I had a little trouble keeping all the characters straight . . . and unraveling the interconnections between them. And there are interconnections. Sera’s environmental group SENR (“Save the Earth’s Natural Resources”) ends up employing Johnny, Darcy, and Pet, and Sera and Tom start dating. Sera is also close friends with Walker, whose brother Jackson is hell-bent on killing the coyote he spotted on the family property. And Cesar, the cat, is everywhere at once, moving among the humans with more than a touch of righteous disdain. The novel feels like a collection of very funny vignettes about the residents of Limax Trace, and I wondered for more than two-thirds of the book whether there was any actual plot at all.
That’s probably my biggest complaint about ACT LOCALLY – there really isn’t any plot to speak of. Vail’s characters go about their lives and interact – sometimes in hysterical ways – but there’s no hint of a traditional plot. If pressed, I’d say that the plot revolves around a series of malicious acts of vandalism and assault being perpetrated against residents of Limax Trace. Since the vandals leave pro-environment messages at the scenes of their crimes, the cops and the FBI suspect Sera and her SENR followers, who have an environmental axe to grind. But when vandalism turns to murder, things get more serious. All that said, this plot really doesn’t come into play much until the second half of the novel, and I never really felt ACT LOCALLY was about either the vandalism or the environment.
So, what is it about? ACT LOCALLY is a novel about our human need for control, and our desperate determination to find order in a universe that simply has no order. “The universe is random,” Tom says to Sera. We want order, but there just isn’t any. So we try to create order, either through religion or the law or with a shotgun. It’s all absurd in the end, of course. And as Cesar the cat says, “What goes around comes around.” Thus the acts of vandalism. Thus our thirst for revenge in a world in which vengeance is ultimately meaningless. Of course Cesar got it right – what goes around just comes around. Trying to make it happen just messes the whole thing up!
I liked ACT LOCALLY. The characters were interesting enough – and funny enough – to keep me engaged in spite of the lack of a real plot. I think Cesar was my favorite. There was something wonderfully delightful in his nightly jaunts, his interactions with cats, dogs, and humans, and his insightful comments about the world he lives in . . . which is also the world we live in. I do recommend ACT LOCALLY. It’s outrageous and ridiculous – which is a pretty good way to look at humanity!
Vail’s prose is crisp and funny, with plenty of sarcastic banter and outrageous comedy. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times, which is rare for me. At the same time, I must admit I had a little trouble keeping all the characters straight . . . and unraveling the interconnections between them. And there are interconnections. Sera’s environmental group SENR (“Save the Earth’s Natural Resources”) ends up employing Johnny, Darcy, and Pet, and Sera and Tom start dating. Sera is also close friends with Walker, whose brother Jackson is hell-bent on killing the coyote he spotted on the family property. And Cesar, the cat, is everywhere at once, moving among the humans with more than a touch of righteous disdain. The novel feels like a collection of very funny vignettes about the residents of Limax Trace, and I wondered for more than two-thirds of the book whether there was any actual plot at all.
That’s probably my biggest complaint about ACT LOCALLY – there really isn’t any plot to speak of. Vail’s characters go about their lives and interact – sometimes in hysterical ways – but there’s no hint of a traditional plot. If pressed, I’d say that the plot revolves around a series of malicious acts of vandalism and assault being perpetrated against residents of Limax Trace. Since the vandals leave pro-environment messages at the scenes of their crimes, the cops and the FBI suspect Sera and her SENR followers, who have an environmental axe to grind. But when vandalism turns to murder, things get more serious. All that said, this plot really doesn’t come into play much until the second half of the novel, and I never really felt ACT LOCALLY was about either the vandalism or the environment.
So, what is it about? ACT LOCALLY is a novel about our human need for control, and our desperate determination to find order in a universe that simply has no order. “The universe is random,” Tom says to Sera. We want order, but there just isn’t any. So we try to create order, either through religion or the law or with a shotgun. It’s all absurd in the end, of course. And as Cesar the cat says, “What goes around comes around.” Thus the acts of vandalism. Thus our thirst for revenge in a world in which vengeance is ultimately meaningless. Of course Cesar got it right – what goes around just comes around. Trying to make it happen just messes the whole thing up!
I liked ACT LOCALLY. The characters were interesting enough – and funny enough – to keep me engaged in spite of the lack of a real plot. I think Cesar was my favorite. There was something wonderfully delightful in his nightly jaunts, his interactions with cats, dogs, and humans, and his insightful comments about the world he lives in . . . which is also the world we live in. I do recommend ACT LOCALLY. It’s outrageous and ridiculous – which is a pretty good way to look at humanity!
May 3, 2013
This book has such a crazy cast of characters, it's so much fun! Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the varying personalities, including a cat, so naturally I loved that. From a borderline evil evangelist (think: Jimmy Stewart on crack), to a girl with several voices speaking to her, there is never a dull moment.
When a couple of the "save the earthers" start to get out of hand in their goodwill (so to speak), the story takes a slightly unexpected turn for the worse but perhaps it makes sense in a small town where everyone is somewhat bored.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and here's the best part: I have a free smashwords copy to give away! See my blog: www.threecatsandagirl.com. Closes May 15, 2013.
When a couple of the "save the earthers" start to get out of hand in their goodwill (so to speak), the story takes a slightly unexpected turn for the worse but perhaps it makes sense in a small town where everyone is somewhat bored.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and here's the best part: I have a free smashwords copy to give away! See my blog: www.threecatsandagirl.com. Closes May 15, 2013.
January 26, 2013
Act Locally is a comedy of errors, of sorts, that reminds us that the universe is random and things often don't turn out as you expect. The characters are extreme, but not to the extent of feeling like caricatures -- I grew up in a small town, and I *knew* some of these people. I may have even been one of them. Particularly enjoyable to me were the moments of suspense, when something was going sideways -- they were finely wrought, drawn out, and gloriously excruciating. There are a lot of characters, and I felt like I needed a scorecard in the beginning; but I soon settled in, really enjoyed my time spent in the slightly absurd world that s.l. vail created, and was sorry when it was over.
Reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut or Milan Kundera, both of whom I adore.
Reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut or Milan Kundera, both of whom I adore.
October 23, 2012
Review of "Act Locally" by S.L. Vail
If you don’t live in a small town you probably know someone who does. Let’s hope so, because then you will truly understand the complexity of S.L. Vail’s story about the small town of Limax Trace.
‟Act Locally” Opens with the detailed growth most towns in America have experienced. She’ll take you on a bumper car like ride. Introducing you to the characters that dwell there. Some you’ll like—some you won’t be so sure about.
Ms.Vail even sneaks in the cat’s adventures. No, it’s not a story about cats. It’s tale of a judge, teenager, drunk, environmentalist, preacher, and just about any other neighbor you may have living across the street. Hey, it could be about–You.
As the short spurts of information unfold you think, ok interesting, so where is this all leading up to. Just when you think you know. A clever Ms.Vail turns the table on the reader. No spoilers here.
If change comes to your town you better watch out.
S.L. Vail on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter (@slvail)
Visit her website where you can buy her book.
If you don’t live in a small town you probably know someone who does. Let’s hope so, because then you will truly understand the complexity of S.L. Vail’s story about the small town of Limax Trace.
‟Act Locally” Opens with the detailed growth most towns in America have experienced. She’ll take you on a bumper car like ride. Introducing you to the characters that dwell there. Some you’ll like—some you won’t be so sure about.
Ms.Vail even sneaks in the cat’s adventures. No, it’s not a story about cats. It’s tale of a judge, teenager, drunk, environmentalist, preacher, and just about any other neighbor you may have living across the street. Hey, it could be about–You.
As the short spurts of information unfold you think, ok interesting, so where is this all leading up to. Just when you think you know. A clever Ms.Vail turns the table on the reader. No spoilers here.
If change comes to your town you better watch out.
S.L. Vail on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter (@slvail)
Visit her website where you can buy her book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews