Books Set in the Place That You Live?

I thought reading "Geek Love" while living in Portland, Oregon really added a lot of hilarity to the story.

When I was a kid I loved all of Beverly Cleary's books and they all take place in Portland too!

All of Mat Groening's stuff - "Life in Hell" and the "Simpsons" have so many refrences to Portland that living here makes them funnier too.

As to movies, having been introduced to the Timberline lodge from "The Shining" I was surprised to find how small the hotel really is.

Really though, it doesn't make much difference to me where a book is set.

They have a nice statue dedicated to Cleary in the Multnomah County Library children's room. In fact, that whole library is a gem...

I was lucky enough to study Shakespeares Macbeth at school in Scotland about 4-5 miles from Cawdor Castle and then 'do' Othello at another school when living in Malta - I know it isn't set in Malta but the Mediterranean sort of went with it!

Also 'oh to be in England, now that April's there, when the lowest boughs on the brushwood sheaf, round the elm tree bole are in tiny leaf' took on more meaning as our teacher timed it so that we studied it in April (still living in Malta).

and ... I've just read, and specially enjoyed Shelters of Stone by Jean Auel while on holiday in the Dordogne and visiting the caves (and cave paintings) where it was set ... that really added to it (or as in another thread - English - it was the gilt on the gingerbread )

On a thus far fruitless, bootless search for the words of "The Johnstown Polka"

Let's play the Johnstown Polka
For the city with the will
Let's play the Johnstown Polka
The city that flood waters couldn't kill

I found: http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives/d5300nh1.htm

If only there were links to lyrics....

Well D'artagnan, even though I've never LIVED in Savannah, GA -
I had BEEN there so many many times that I felt that it qualified.
When the book came out titled "Midnight In The Garden Of Good
And Evil - I enjoyed reading a book about a city where I had been
so many times. But then, a movie was filmed here on Amelia
Island; I think it was a kid's movie - which I never bothered to
go see. In fact, I never even bothered to go downtown to watch
any of the filming. Then...there was a country video made, I
forget who sang ... filmed the very DAY after The Palace Saloon
burned to the ground. In fact it was still smoke and ashes
(Tracy Chapman) falling all around. The Olde Palace Saloon had
boasted having the very oldest, biggest bar in the south. They
might have, but having never entered the establishment (not a
drinker) I really couldn't have cared less. Nor is country music
my favorite, although I have grown fond of "some" of the artists,
and the songs - via living with someone who IS a country music
lover.
*** As for your question about locales & reading, I think that
from about the age of 8 and on up... I have read books about
the far eastern countries. Japan, India, Korea, China Tibet,
Thailand etc. A woman named Pearl Buck spent much of her life
in China, I believe...and she was one of the 1st writers that I
found who I then proceeded to plow thru every book she ever
wrote. Enjoyed them all. Same way with John Irving....after
reading The Cider House Rules, I went back reading through every
single book he wrote and loved them (all except the Son Of The
Circus, some of his wit and satire loses me) His most recent book,
The Fourth Hand is another lyrical satirical novel...but I LIKE this
one. Same thing when I discovered Mitchner....Hemingway, Kahlil
Gibran & on and on. I loved books. Living in
quite a dismal family situation, books became a very real
form of escape to me - highly therapeutic as well...may have
saved what sanity remains to this day. I ADORE reading about
places far away. And whenever I am in the planning stages
of a trip (like the month long hiatus in Hawaii,split between
Waikiki, the back side of Oahu & Maui.....when my 1st
grandson was due to be born 7 years ago) I am a VORACIOUS
reader. I check out all the travel books, all the restaurants that
are highly recommended, all the different types of things to do
& this is an endless list in Hawaii. My brother went to get his
diving license - I went to see my 1st grandchild born (and
missed by 2 days- he would not wait for us) So, my eldest
daughter (the mom & already living on Maui) was descended
upon by me, her sisters, her "other mom" and we all of us went
for the big trip of the decade.
It WAS too. A verry expensive place to vacation .... but also worth
each & every penny. Odd as it may seem, one of the most
memorable sightseeing occassions for me was on the north side
of Oahu where there is a small Buddhist Temple in colors of the
brightest reds, oranges & green, set against the deepest green
mountain background rising sharply. Pools of big orange fish & the
biggest bell I have ever seen or heard rung - it is easily 3 times
the size of the Liberty Bell. And such a tone it had, it seized my
soul & held it there spellbound. There was no one else around.
It is just there. A quiet beautiful place, just sitting there, against
the backdrop of dark green volcanic mountain. I ADORE reading
about places that I hope to visit one day. Like the countryside in
France where there are so many pastoral old castles to see, set
in beautiful countrysides. I get lots of ideas about where I want to
visit from books that I read. Or it may be that
I just read the books because they are about places I really
do want to visit. Don't know
for sure which one comes first. But it doesn't matter, I love to
travel....whether it be halfway around the world, or just 8 hours up
to the Great Smoky Mtn Natl Park, for a few weeks in the
cool green forest. We are going Sunday next & there will be a
full moon
Saturday night ... it IS SO lovely to be out around a campsite
late at night when the moon is full & for days afterwards. We made
one trip to Vermont about 5 years ago - just because I haven't seen
a bit of snow in years and my Floridian roomate has never seen any.
It snowed EVERY SINGLE DAY. We had a lovely ride in a horse
drawn sleigh, with blankets heaped upon us, bells ringing. There
had been plenty of snow on the ground to begin with, but each day
got a bit higher. I got some use of those windshield scrapers I'd
forgotten about. Saw some children ice skating in the
middle of the town square in a small town there. It looked like they
had watered it & made a home made ice rink. Got some
GLORIOUS photographs of those covered bridges (and they
WERE covered in snow) and church steeples against the deep
blue of the sky. And of the Green Mountains of VT. Have
already been to the White Mts in NH, love that also. I do
DREAM of getting to see every single national park - one at
a time, little by little. I'll do it, if I live long enough.

Books set where you live
I feel both ways about this. I thoroughy enjoy reading books set in and around Boston - it's fun seeing familiar sites used to forward an unfamiliar plot, for example, and it's also fun to pick apart the ones who get the setting wrong (gives one that superior feeling...)

I also enjoy reading "English Village" settings, (especially mysteries) even while knowing perfectly well that probably no English village ever was or will be like the one described.

So I get the best of both worlds. You can't do better than that!

Books set in the place where you live
As a related question - what about movies which are set in one city but use another because it looks "more authentic"? I know of one movie set in France but filmed in Hungary because Paris didn't look sufficiently Parisian, I guess...

I love NYC books and am a Paul Auster fan, too. Also love Lawrence Block's Bernie the Burglar, Matt Scudder and Hit Man crime novels. It think it's the New York City state of mind they both capture in different ways--cynical, wary, with an absolute faith that absolutely anything could happen and a reliance on using your wit and wits at all times.

I'm originally from Detroit where I hung out with two different groups of literary types, one from the University of Detroit (a former boyfriend and a long time best friend as well as two more close buddies) and another group centered around the graduate department of English at Wayne State University. Both groups had the same goal: to put Detroit on the literary map.

Of course, none of my U-D friends (Harry Heilmann, Larry Clarke and the others whose names have evaporated with the mists of time) ever published a novel. As for my WSU compatriots, well, while I remember Chris Fessler's full name, I can't remember his closest friend's surname and the fact that his first name was John is of no help! Can not remember the last name of Kathryn Garland _________. Somehow, I doubt that John Bolton is still alive. Despite Chris' promise as a poet, can not find any published work by him. John was simultaneousy working on a master's in English in Detroit and a master's in film in California and I wonder if he ever wrote a script that was produced.

I started a novel ... but it is set in Cambridge, MA!!!

Now, another former boyfriend was a "character" in a memoir about a year spent (I think) in VISTA called, "A Peck of Salt."

One of the problems with reading books set in local locales is that most of them tend to be mysteries and I can not read a mystery: never get beyond page three.

When I was a young sprout, I did enjoy several juvenile novels set in Michigan but I can not remember the names of either the books or the authors.

I now live outside Boston and that's richer literary territory!

One of Joyce Carol Oates' early novels is set in Detroit during the riots. I can't recall the title, though, and I wonder if it's still in print. Could it have been "Them"?

I just checked: "Them" is the title of the book JCO wrote that's set in Detroit.

[The long-term memory still works, I guess. Can't say the same for the short-term, though.]

The world is my oyster. c.i.

Hey, D'Artagnan, my regular correspondant!

Joyce Carol Oates taught at the University of Detroit and two of her students were mentioned above. My friend Harry was famous for driving a Harley Chopper through her classroom. She had the reputation for being a "witch" and people were warned to be careful about things said in front of her. One of her stories featured someone who committed suicide and that caused her a lot of trouble and the family a great deal of further grief.

Joni Mitchell lived in Detroit as did Gordon Lightfoot. Mitchell's song, Marcy,although set largely in NYC was supposed to be about a girl who went to WSU. Pete Seegers youngest sister (non-musician) also went to WSU at that time.

Hi, plainoldme! I vaguely remember that Oates taught in Detroit. She must have been interesting to study under. I discovered her when I was in college, when she'd only written a few novels. We thought she was extremely cool, my friend and I.

Curious that Mitchell and Lighfoot lived in Detroit, since they're both Canadian. Why there, I wonder?

For one thing, Detroit is a short hop across the river from Windsor, Ontario. For another, if you saw the PBS hagiography on Mitchell, her ex-husband, Chuck, sort of took advantage of her weakened emotional and financial situation following the birth of the daughter she gave up, and, of course, capitalizing on the fact that she was a better songwriter who was more popular than he was, offered to marry her in order to help her financially. After a whirlwind wedding -- she made her dress as well as his sister's (who she hadn't met at that point) maid of honor dress. Immediately post-ceremony, he unceremoniously informed her that he was not taking care of another man's child.

I knew from friends in Detroit, who were involved with the music scene, that Chuck Mitchell wasn't a nice man. Later, I learned from friends here in this area who had been involved in Passim and with folk fastivals that Chuck was considered a bore who put audiences to sleep singing Curt Weill songs and who was booked so people could hear his wife. Interestingly, no one in Detroit ever discussed the daughter Joni surrendered. People here in Boston didn't know.

Detroit was a big music place in the 1960s. Not just Motown, there was the Raven Gallery and several other clubs that offered about the same amount of exposure to musicians that Boston/Cambridge and Chicago did although less than NYC. That period was shortlived, unfortunately.

I hadn't known all that about Joni Mitchell, and I forgot that Detroit did have a music scene back in the '60s. I tend to think of it as more Motown and hard rock territory, but my knowledge is limited.

Interesting stories, plainoldme!

Thanks, D'Artagnan.
The one thing we did not have was psychodelic music: you had to cross the river to go to Windsor, ON to hear that in a club.

We did, however, have one of the first underground music stations in the country, WABX. A guy named Larry Miller was the inspiration. Originally a folk music disc jockey, he began playing the beatles. He and his wife Carol were part of a rock group called the South Bound Freeway. Very avant garde. Some of the djs ended up in Boston, in the bigger underground market of WBCN.

Ah yes, plainoldme, the days when radio was interesting! How sad that things have turned out the way they did. There was an article in the NY Times recently by a guy who wrote about taking aimless drives across state lines and knowing where he was by what he heard on local radio stations. I recall those trips, too. Now, he says, it tends to be the same corporate pablum everywhere. Sad. Though I did tune into a decent classic country stations in Tulsa earlier this month. That was a treat!

I really enjoyed reading William Martins "Back Bay" and "Cape Cod" but, I dont go for a book simply because its about the area. I could read about anywhere, as long as its a good read. I dont think they have more of my interst if they are of local flavor but, I'm sure there are many I haven't read yet, so I wont say for certain.
I feel the same way as many above about those mistakes many authors make by getting things wrong....they make you nuts. I particularly dont like incorrect factoids, directions, etc. books because it interputs the thought process but, movies pretty much make me crazy too.
There was a movie made in the city I grew up in and when I saw the film, I couldnt believe it..had NONE of the feel of the town, nevermind anything else. Its dissappointing to get your hopes up like that.

D'Art,
Haven't much time today ... pant!pant!pant! ... but I too miss radio with creativity. Poor kids today: all they know is chain radio and chain clothing stores and chain coffee shops! Remember that song about everybody going to get all mixed up, a calypso done by Peter, Paul and Mary that was supposed to be about racial melding and was seen as a good thing as it would end prejudice.

Instead, everything became homogenized.

Quinn,
On the other thread (the one about the gathering) where it was decided that you resembled the actress who played Moaning Myrtle, the Harry Potter bathroom haunter? well, I saw the repeat of The Way We Live Now on PBS and wonder if the same actress played Maria Melcher, the poor little rich and then not so rich daughter of the swindler played by David Suchet. While I did not remember Myrtle, I was struck by how much other MM (if it is the same actress, she must feel stuck in those initials!) that the Maria actress resembled you and then wondered whether both actresses were the same.