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Panorama City
By Antoine Wilson
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Hardcover, 9780547875125, September 2012, 304pp.)

The Short of It:

Oppen Porter is probably one of my favorite protagonists since Owen Meany. In fact, you could say he’s a cross between Owen Meany and Forrest Gump. Witty, funny, brutally honest yet likable.

The Rest of It:

What a wonderful book. Where do I even start? You know it’s good when I can’t even formulate my thoughts.

After a mysterious accident, Oppen finds himself in a Madera hospital, in traction and on the verge of dying. Well, to HIM, the end is near which is why he is recording a letter to his unborn son, Juan George. The events of his 28-years are unremarkable in one sense, and spectacular in another. At 6’6″, he is a grown man and intelligent in his own way, but his simple curiosity allows him to befriend all sorts of strange characters. Riding everywhere on his bicycle, with a pair of binoculars around his neck, Oppen exists by asking the questions that no one else wants to ask. He’s blunt, far from innocent yet gullible, but even when people set out to take advantage of him, his goodness seems to rub off on them just a tiny bit. Enough to make you wonder if there is good in everyone.

From his hospital bed, Oppen tells his story.

When his father dies at home, Oppen takes it upon himself to fulfill his father’s wish, which is to be buried at home in his own backyard. This seems perfectly logical. Why would anyone have a problem with it? When the authorities catch wind of it, the body is exhumed and buried to code. Frustrated that he is unable to do the one thing his father requested, he suddenly finds himself living with his Aunt Liz in Panorama City, California. If you’ve ever visited the San Fernando Valley, you know how dry and boring Panorama City can be. It’s “strip mall” city, crowded, and eternally stuck in the 70’s (if you ask me).

Aunt Liz believes that what Oppen needs is a job to fix him right up, so she gets him a job at a local fast food joint. There, he is forced to interact and consider, those around him. Both customers and coworkers become objects for analysis. Oppen’s desire to please the customer could mean giving them the chosen fry, the one that’s a bit longer than the others just to see if they are paying attention but what it usually does is get him in trouble with whoever he’s trying to analyze at the time. But his fill-in-the-blank personality saves him, in that no one ever thinks he’s trying to be annoying on purpose; quite the opposite actually.

As Oppen moves through life in Panorama City, his time there becomes an Odyssey which lasts 40 days and 40 nights. He finds Christ through the Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, learns about fleeting youth from his freethinking friend, Paul Renfro and although many attempt to take advantage of him, in the end, Oppen seems to always come out on top.

I don’t run, because when you run people chase you. People and animals. Always better to extend your stride.

This is a charming read in many ways but what I found most charming, was Oppen himself and yes I’ll admit it, even Panorama City was a lot more interesting with Oppen in it. His ability to take it all in, distill whatever it is right down to its essence, and then regurgitate it back up for his unborn son’s benefit… priceless. To me, this book reminded me so, so much of A Prayer for Owen Meany, which is a book that I hold dear. So for me to even compare this one to Meany means that this one is pretty special.

I wanted to include some gems from the book but there are far too many to mention. I suggest you pick-up a copy and just read it for yourself. I, for one will be reading Wilson’s other book, The Interloper as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Audio Note: I listened to a portion of this on audio and it was just as fabulous on audio.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

This Cake is For the Party
By Sarah Selecky
(St. Martin’s Griffin, Paperback, 9781250011428, November 2012, 240pp.)

The Short of It:

Never has such an unassuming collection of stories held my attention from beginning to end.

The Rest of It:

I love quiet stories and if they center around relationships, even better. From the very first page, I found myself falling right into this book. You know that feeling? That feeling where everything around you stands still and all you can focus on is the book in front of you? That is the feeling I had while reading these stories. When this book was in my hands, nothing else seemed to matter.

There are ten stories in this collection, all ranging in tone but clearly the party in question is nowhere to be found. In Throwing Cotton, we meet Anna and Sanderson and their friends Flip and Shona as they meet-up at a lake cottage for a little holiday. As Anna and Sanderson head into the next phase of their marriage, that of children, it becomes apparent that Anna has doubts. What should be a glorious time, now suddenly becomes something else. In Standing Up for Janey, Bonnie throws a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of her best friend Janey. Shortly before the party, Janey admits to Bonnie that she’s recently cheated on Milt. With this knowledge, Bonnie is forced to host as if nothing is amiss. What should be tragic tale, somehow ends up being funny in Selecky’s hands.

What these stories have in common is that these people are normal, functioning adults dealing with everyday problems. Selecky’s ability to take everyday objects or situations and make them unique is inspiring to say the least. She writes, like my brain thinks. Quiet observations not always spoken or shared out loud.

I savored each and every story in the collection and when I reached the end, I felt compelled to go right back and read them again.

An interesting little tidbit for you. The story that gives this collection its name was not included in the collection itself! This Cake is for the Party was a story that Selecky had written before this collection even came to be. It was short, only five pages long. It was actually the basis for another story which happens to be in the book. However, when this collection was put together, including it would have meant that it was the only linked story in the collection and Selecky felt that it put too much pressure on one of the characters so it was left out. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the story and although I loved it, I see why it was not included. Interesting, huh?

Because I was so impressed with the writing as a whole and totally fell head over heels for the collection, I went to Selecky’s website and signed up for her Little Bird writing prompts. These prompts are offered in conjunction with her Little Bird Writing Contest. Each day, a writing prompt arrives in my inbox and I take ten minutes of every morning to write a response. I’m not sure I will ever submit anything to the contest, but for now I am enjoying the prompts. If you find yourself struggling to write creatively and just don’t have the time, you might want to try these prompts. Ten minutes a day. That’s it. Even I can do that and who knows? Maybe one day I will have a story as good as one of the ones in the book!

As you can probably guess, I am still thinking about these stories and can’t seem to stop talking about them. If you get the opportunity to pick up a copy, you won’t be sorry.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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