Part of the fun of getting away from it all, for a writer, is sending stories back to the people who haven’t escaped the city rush. Chris Bohjalian, a writer formerly based in Brooklyn, now resides in tiny Lincoln, Vermont, where he writes a weekly column about small-town life. This collection of columns brings to life such experiences as the Pinewood Derby, trips to the general store, and a town meeting. His writings also cover more serious events in his life and the life of his town, such as his mother’s death and the flooding of the library. Bohjalian reads with a gentle, self-deprecating tone--engaging, but occasionally sounding a bit too surprised by his new home. These glimpses of country life are a pleasant diversion for hectic days. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
In March 1986, while living in Brooklyn, Chris Bohjalian and his wife were cab-napped on a Saturday night and taken on a forty-five-minute joy ride in which the driver ignored all traffic lights and stop signs. Around midnight he deposited the young couple on a near-deserted street, where police officers were about to storm a crack house. Bohjalian and his wife were told to hit the ground for their own protection. While lying on the pavement, Bohjalian's wife suggested that perhaps it was time to move to New England.
Months later they traded in their co-op in Brooklyn for a century-old Victorian house in Lincoln, Vermont (population 975), and Bohjalian began chronicling life in that town in a wide variety of magazine essays and in his newspaper column, "Idyll Banter."
These pieces, written weekly for twelve years and collected here for the first time, serve as a diary of both this writer's life and how America has been transformed in the last decade. Rich with idiosyncratic universals that come with being a parent, a child, and a spouse, Chris Bohjalian's personal observations are a reflection of our own common experience.
"Chris Bohjalian is a terrific columnist-thoughtful and thought-provoking. Just like me! No, really, this guy is good." -Dave Barry, author of Boogers Are My Beat
“The best book I've ever read about life in a contemporary village. There's no doubt that Chris Bohjalian has established himself as one of America's finest, most thoughtful, and most humane writers.”
-Howard Frank Mosher
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Months later they traded in their co-op in Brooklyn for a century-old Victorian house in Lincoln, Vermont (population 975), and Bohjalian began chronicling life in that town in a wide variety of magazine essays and in his newspaper column, "Idyll Banter."
These pieces, written weekly for twelve years and collected here for the first time, serve as a diary of both this writer's life and how America has been transformed in the last decade. Rich with idiosyncratic universals that come with being a parent, a child, and a spouse, Chris Bohjalian's personal observations are a reflection of our own common experience.
"Chris Bohjalian is a terrific columnist-thoughtful and thought-provoking. Just like me! No, really, this guy is good." -Dave Barry, author of Boogers Are My Beat
“The best book I've ever read about life in a contemporary village. There's no doubt that Chris Bohjalian has established himself as one of America's finest, most thoughtful, and most humane writers.”
-Howard Frank Mosher
Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town (Abridged)
In March 1986, while living in Brooklyn, Chris Bohjalian and his wife were cab-napped on a Saturday night and taken on a forty-five-minute joy ride in which the driver ignored all traffic lights and stop signs. Around midnight he deposited the young couple on a near-deserted street, where police officers were about to storm a crack house. Bohjalian and his wife were told to hit the ground for their own protection. While lying on the pavement, Bohjalian's wife suggested that perhaps it was time to move to New England.
Months later they traded in their co-op in Brooklyn for a century-old Victorian house in Lincoln, Vermont (population 975), and Bohjalian began chronicling life in that town in a wide variety of magazine essays and in his newspaper column, "Idyll Banter."
These pieces, written weekly for twelve years and collected here for the first time, serve as a diary of both this writer's life and how America has been transformed in the last decade. Rich with idiosyncratic universals that come with being a parent, a child, and a spouse, Chris Bohjalian's personal observations are a reflection of our own common experience.
"Chris Bohjalian is a terrific columnist-thoughtful and thought-provoking. Just like me! No, really, this guy is good." -Dave Barry, author of Boogers Are My Beat
“The best book I've ever read about life in a contemporary village. There's no doubt that Chris Bohjalian has established himself as one of America's finest, most thoughtful, and most humane writers.”
-Howard Frank Mosher
Months later they traded in their co-op in Brooklyn for a century-old Victorian house in Lincoln, Vermont (population 975), and Bohjalian began chronicling life in that town in a wide variety of magazine essays and in his newspaper column, "Idyll Banter."
These pieces, written weekly for twelve years and collected here for the first time, serve as a diary of both this writer's life and how America has been transformed in the last decade. Rich with idiosyncratic universals that come with being a parent, a child, and a spouse, Chris Bohjalian's personal observations are a reflection of our own common experience.
"Chris Bohjalian is a terrific columnist-thoughtful and thought-provoking. Just like me! No, really, this guy is good." -Dave Barry, author of Boogers Are My Beat
“The best book I've ever read about life in a contemporary village. There's no doubt that Chris Bohjalian has established himself as one of America's finest, most thoughtful, and most humane writers.”
-Howard Frank Mosher
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Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town (Abridged)
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172076985 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 12/16/2003 |
| Edition description: | Abridged |
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