but I pulled out my dog-eared copy of Jean Shepherd's In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash this weekend and laughed like crazy at the story upon which the movie A Christmas Story is based. No matter how many times I read it, it's still hilarious. Actually, if you've never had the opportunity to read his work, you should run to the bookstore or the library. His first book is a visit home where he meets a grown-up Flick at the old hometown bar and they reminisce together about events from their childhood. I love the saga of the Bumpus Hounds (actually, Delbert Bumpus and the entire Bumpus clan!) and the leg lamp story (It's a major award!) is great - and I have actually considered buying Tim a giant leg lamp over the years. His second book, which I personally like even better, is called Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It's a wonderful collection of stories about the hazards of growing up: vacations, high school crushes, playground bullies - you name it. While I love the title story, the very best one in the book is called Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (where does he come up with this stuff?); it took me back to every summer family vacation I spent stuffed in the back seat of a sweltering car with my projectile-vomiting sister. His stories also lend themselves well to being read aloud - so keep that in mind for the holiday season - no one is ever too old to listen to a story!
Now that I have retired from teaching, reading aloud is something that I really miss!!
ReplyDeleteI love Jean Shepard's work. If I could just round up a captive audience to listen to me read it, I'd be in hog heaven!!