Fiction / modern New Mexico
299 pages / 833 KB
5 Stars
This book was published by the University of New Mexico Press, and while I couldn't find it in the usual places, I did find it in AbeBooks.com, ISBN 10: 082635033X ISBN 13: 9780826350336–if you look in the usual places by author, not title, you'll probably find it.
When I finally found my local library (about as easy to get to for me as falling off a log!) I asked the librarian for some ideas on local history. This is one of the books recommended, although it is fiction. Librarians are very special people. This book is marvelous!
It is the story of a fictional town, Sweeney, on the high plains of New Mexico, which like many other small towns, is dying. They young people are leaving as soon as they can for the life of the big cities, businesses have closed, people have moved. The die-hards want to bring the town back to life—or die trying. It is a marvelous story about the handful of people who set about performing CPR for this fun town. And I, for one, am glad it's fiction, or I would feel very badly that I moved to Albuquerque instead of Sweeney. (I love Albuquerque, and even finally learned to spell the name, but oh, I really love Sweeney. I think it's the New Mexican version of Camelot.)
In this well-told tale, you will meet Druids, nudists, a naked bull rider named Bare-assed Bob, Indians both real and not, and a whole bunch of the crazy citizens who make up the town. I laughed out loud on several occasions. It kind of reminded me of the movie, M*A*S*H, and the line about the only way to remain sane was to go insane. Well, "Crazy ideas are the only kind that work..." in Sweeney.
For a great fun read, find a copy of this book. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.
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