Lovers of Steinbeck's Cannery Row books will be captivated by this original offering. Set over the first half of the twentieth century, the book chronicles life in that creature unknown to real life America, a truly multicultural community. It's a rambling, relaxed book that meanders down through the years, pausing here to spotlight a character, there to investigate an event, and with its casual, gossipy tone the reader feels almost as if he is listening to gossip, or hearing Grandpa's reminiscences.
The book opens with a description of a series of odd events occurring in the community. As the years roll by and the plot develops, issues such as racism and religious bigotry are examined, and the book concludes with lovely symmetry where it started, with the strange events of the opening chapter now horribly understood. The overall message, however, is one of hope, and the flavour of the book was to me sharply evocative of the warm-hearted, multifarious denizens of Cannery Row. It's a beautiful book, and the teaser chapter of its sequel provided at the end has left me thirsting for more.
The book opens with a description of a series of odd events occurring in the community. As the years roll by and the plot develops, issues such as racism and religious bigotry are examined, and the book concludes with lovely symmetry where it started, with the strange events of the opening chapter now horribly understood. The overall message, however, is one of hope, and the flavour of the book was to me sharply evocative of the warm-hearted, multifarious denizens of Cannery Row. It's a beautiful book, and the teaser chapter of its sequel provided at the end has left me thirsting for more.
Don't Ya Know is available from AMAZON in both Kindle and paperback editions.
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