Books Set in the Place That You Live?

pom...I have no idea I would think though that she would be too young??? Could be wrong. Ive been told to look like a few of those gals...Winnie from the Wonder Years even..but, its okay...Im thinking I could make some spare cash maybe by being an impersonator...if only one of them would become incredibly famous...it would help my cause.

I thought the actress who played the swindler's daughter in "The Way We Live Now" was quite winsome. In an offbeat way, of course. If you look like her, quinn1, you're a lucky gal!

Im lucky anyway...but, amuzed as well which makes for a great smile and helps a great deal in all of that...thanks (in an offbeat way )

Shirley Henderson as Marie Melmotte. Interestingly enough, she also appeared in Mike Leigh's "Topsy Turvy". She was great, as a doomed young perfomer in that, too...

yep--shes got that offbeat look

Thanks, D'artagnan, for the picture of actress Shirley playing Maria Melmott. I thought she was cute as well, and, seeing the picture affirms that she resembles Quinn, although Quinn is taller.

Hey, got a letter to the editor published in the current edition of Harvard Magazine, page 8.

Good for you, plainoldme!

The Salterton Trilogy, by Robertson Davies, is set in my hometown. Frighteningly, the things he wrote about were much the same 50 years later.

Davies is a writer I've meant to try, ehBeth. Any title you'd care to recommend as a starter?

Edith Wharton's "Ethan Fromme".

When Ethan and Mattie went "sledding" down that fateful hill in the sleepy New England town called "Starkfield", they actually went down Court House Hill in Lenox, Massachusetts.

I lived most of my life on that very hill that Edith Wharton brought to life in the world of the classics.

The elm tree, that played such a prominet role at the foot of that hill....is long gone.

Little else has changed. Except the cost of living there.

Well, now, that's interesting, KYN! Knowing that must have deepened your appreciation of the book...

lots of choices for Davies. I really do love the Salterton Trilogy. I may be biased because of its location - but other people gave it the Leacock medal! I've been reading some of his essays lately, and enjoying them quite a bit.

When I look at the list, I realize that I have more Davies in the house than I'd first thought. Good stuff.

Thanks for the tips, ehBeth!

Robertson Davies spoke at the Boston Public Library more than a decade ago. The auditorium was over flowing and people had to watch him on video relay in other rooms . . . where I was. Still remember some of the things he said: a grand man.

I LOVE the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker because of his take on Boston. Mysteries tend to be my "brain candy" so I'll occasionally pick up a detective novel set in New Orleans when I want to visit without hopping a plane.

Samuel Clemens became a newspaper journalist down the road from here. (About 4000 feet down and 30 miles over). That's when he started to go by the name of Mark Twain.

He's got a few stories about trying his hand at prospectin', mud slinging, and characterizing. When finally challenged to a duel, he headed over the mountains to Calaveras County, kind of like a jumping frog. :-) I keep searching for a cove on Lake Tahoe that he described, where he spent a summer "homesteading" a plot of land (free for the taking!)

Lots of folks headed west in those days, and many stories came out of it.

Like the time the Donner Party tried to get over the summit but became stranded for the winter. Drama, fate, horror, even murder. With all the various rescue parties going back and forth, five independent times various folks had to resort to cannibalism. One of those locations is now a state park where you can camp, swim and ... have a barbecue.

It's always interesting to read books about local history, or even fiction.

Some books describe a place so evocatively that I'd like to go there, even though I never thought I would. Right now I'm reading "Sons of Mississippi", which is about the sheriffs who went to Oxford to take care of business (the wrong way) when James Meredith tried to integrate Ol' Miss in 1962. The author, Paul Hendrickson, describes Natchez as a fascinating place--a bit like New Orleans. Makes me want to go there and see for myself, partly (or maybe mostly) because it must be nothing like anywhere I've ever lived...

I never cared particularly whether a book or story was about a specific place. Like so many of you, I think I just read, and then, after a time, developed certain tastes and desires for certain areas. There did seem to be a lot of books about Pennsylvania, but since that was where I lived, it was exciting to read. In college I took a course in Pennsylvania literature. And then, in Philadelphia, we had that marvelous library (the main one) that had a whole section devoted to it, as well as one of the greats of bookstores, the long-gone Leary's. But my reading from early days ranged all over the place, and actually sparked some travel to places because of it. I remember arriving for the fist time in Victoria Station (having taken the night ferry from Ostend), and being so excited I could hardly breathe. It seemed that every mystery, every story I'd ever read had something to do with Victoria Station.

Books set where I live are a bit difficult to come by. It's not that not a lot happens here; it's just that we haven't yet - I think - had an author who cares to set something here.

But wait - movies. There was a movie called "Family Man" with Nicholas Cage, and it was filmed in my daughter's neighborhood. He actually drove by her house (which was not used in the movie.) Everything else was fake. There was no snow - lawns had ground covers, Christmas decorations were strung and arranged, and everybody got paid for the use of their property. What was funny was that this part of the picture had to do with Christmas, and most of the houses used were owned by orthodox Jews. The miracle of the movies.

I don't know where in NJ you live, mamajuana, but Philip Roth is one author who has located quite a few of his novels in that state, particularly Newark (where he grew up). I'm thinking of American Pastoral, which is a great read in any case.

I'm originally from Michigan and I love songs about Michigan. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a long-time favorite although I like Michael Smith's Panther in Michigan better.