Welcome to Higby [Hardcover]

But I liked it enough to read on. Perhaps I was wondering how Dunn's plot might parallel T. R. Pearson's "A Short History of a Small Place", what with the town water tower serving as the start and end of the Higby visit.

The characters in this tale are richly eccentric and colorful to match their names. Dunn had fun with these names: Carmen Valentine, Harold and Carold, the Pedloe twins, Klaus and Abbadene Ostermeyer, Stewie, Tie, Ponce, Talitha, Bowmar, and more. And the reader is reminded of the cleverness of Dickens and Twain in their naming of casts of characters.

Dunn's playwright's talent definitely influences his novel. He has a way of setting up scenes that might be vividly played out on stage or on screen. And with the humorous situations into which he places his cast, one also sees the pathos of real life, the true basis of humor, a deep sorrow of the valleys of life, not just the high points.

Each character, starting with a grieving teenaged boy named Clint Cullen, a preacher's son, no less, and a love-starved maker of potato salad, virginal Carmen Valentine, is likeable and believable. In fact, you may swear that you know some of these people. Dunn skillfully manages his "cast of thousands" by weaving them into one another's lives, just as small towns tend to do to their citizens.

I do recommend this book. It is a nice escape from TV and its laugh track sit-coms and over-done reality series. And you will find laugh-out-loud moments, good for what ails you during winter doldrums.

These problems run the gamut from the mundane to the hilarious. Talitha is kidnapped by a small religious vegan cult. Oren, the town minister, has a crush on the town tootsie and worries about his son Clint, who climbed to the top of the town's water tower and fell off. Carmen crafts pictures with macaroni and gets advice from her guardian angel on making the best of her shopping dollar. The clueless but good-hearted Euless is stunned by a financial windfall from his employer. Hank, on the edge of the downhill slide of Alzheimers, preaches to the neighborhood pets and frequently wanders off, to the consternation of his sister. Stewie has found God, but is foundering in his relationship with women. Ex-convict Bowmar is dogged by the police for every crime in town even though he is reformed and above suspicion.

In spite of all the goings-on, this novel never degenerates into a soap opera. The common thread binding all the story lines is the endurance of love and redemption. The reader is in turn amused, touched, concerned, and ultimately satisfied that the residents of Higby have bumbled their way to a happier life. So take a trip to Higby and enjoy the ride!