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Loading... Home Townby Tracy Kidder
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Kidder shows us all around Northhampton, MA through the eyes of several local characters that call it home. We spend a lot of time with O'Connor, the cop and his criminal drug informant, Frankie. Other colorful characters include the liberal judge, the OCD lawyer who hangs out with strippers, the non-traditionally aged scholarship student at Smith College, and the mayor. We get a sense of Northampton's long history and its prospects for the future, as of the mid-1990's. I was skeptical of this book when I started it, but then i was unable to put it down. You'll recognize something of your own small town here, if you've been fortunate enough to live in one. (  )1   mojomomma | Nov 24, 2009 |  Home Town describes the town of Northampton MA through the lives of several “townies.” The primary focus is on a policeman who moves up through the ranks. It also details the lives of local pols, petty criminals, judges, and street people. The arrest of a fellow cop and best friend from his cradle days highlights the conflicts being of “in” the town and “of” the town. (  ) mckall08 | Nov 23, 2009 | An in-depth analysis of a community and the people who sustain it. Kidder uses government documents and anecdotes told personally to him to tell the story of Northampton, Massachusetts through the eyes of several of its citizens. Policeman Tommy O'Connor is the main character, but many others' stories are woven throughout, including those of a struggling single-mother college student; an obsessive-compulsive mogul; and an endearing criminal. This could be the story of any Main Street, USA town - wars on drugs and the homeless; town hall meetings; protests and demonstrations; college students and skateboarding teens; the rich and the poor. Northampton has a rich history and has been the home of many famous people, including Sylvia Plath, Calvin Coolidge, William Cullen Bryant, and Sojourner Truth - it is also said to be the birthplace of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is a work of non-fiction, but it reads like fiction. Warning: Kidder loves words and he uses them profusely - this is not a book you can skim, so it may takea while to wade through. (  ) molliewatts | Oct 23, 2009 | A phenomenal view of a small town, with great insight and quality writing. (  ) banderson1973 | Nov 2, 2008 | Have not read  dickcraig | Aug 21, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0679455884, Hardcover)Northampton, Massachusetts, boasts a rich history that dates back to the 17th century. It is home to Mount Holyoke, which has been climbed by Charles Dickens and Henry James (among others), and to Sylvia Plath's alma mater, Smith College. It has always been the quintessential New England town, while becoming in recent years a politically progressive small city, whose population of 30,000 has WASPs rubbing elbows with lesbians, immigrants, students, and the homeless. Driven by a narrative force comparable to that of the best fiction, Home Town is a remarkable evocation of small-town life at the end of the 20th century.Probing beneath Northampton's friendly exterior, Pulitzer-winning author Tracy Kidder uncovers the town's many layers, from the lowest to the highest rungs of society, and renders a portrait of Northampton by introducing those who know it best. Kidder relies most heavily on native Tommy O'Connor, a 33-year-old police sergeant who has never left his beloved hometown. Tommy's optimism and gentle humor make him an appealing guide, as he shows both the darkest and most charming streets of his town and wrestles with a future that may forever alter his relationship to Northampton. Kidder also introduces readers to Laura Baumeister, a young working mother and Ada Comstock scholar at Smith College who is struggling to care for her son and keep up with the rigorous school curriculum; Alan Scheinman, a real estate lawyer who made a fortune in the 1980s, now plagued by a crippling case of obsessive-compulsive disorder; and Samson Rodriguez, a former loom operator who may have been one of the first people to bring crack cocaine to Northampton. --Kera Bolonik (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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