At Least In The City By Wade Rouse (3.5 Bookmarks)

Read this interesting book that I found out about through my alma mater's monthly alumni journal.  Wade, like me, is a Northwestern alum, and he has written a book that struck a chord with me: At Least In The City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: Misadventures In Search Of The Simple Life.

Wade, a gay metrosexual (unlike me), and his partner Gary, leave the city and all its trappings (Starbucks, Banana Republic,, etc.) for a cottage in snowbound Saugatuck, MI.  The book is a very funny slice-of-life about the trials an tribulations of giving up everything they know--the gym, the spas, the restaurants, the nightlife--for racoons and birds and pine trees.  Using Thoreau's Walden as a guide, they try to acclimate to often inhospitable nature, and neighbors,  and present it in a novel that you can dive into at any chapter and still have a fun time--there's no plot to get in the way.  It's more of a journal than a story.

The book's a blast; there's no doubt that it has one chuckle per page, and at least a full-on belly laugh every chapter.  But I prefer a book with a plot, character growth, and conflict on a large scale--not just simply "putting out fires" every day, as in this novel.  The characters are also openly homosexual, and quite hilarious about it (e.g putting a stick for a penis on their snowman), but again, no plot.  If one likes Forrest Gump, which is just moving through someones life, then they'll like this book--the humor alone makes it a page-turner.  But if someone is looking for depth and meaning and a complete ride from start to finish, this book is mediocre.  3.5 bookmarks.