R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 6/26/2011 + 1438 more book reviews

In some ways this one reminded me of Wineburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson which I read a few years ago. Olive is a series of short tales about people she knows and incidents in her life while Ohio is a series of short stories about people who live in this small town. There are some interesting sections in Olive that I suspect will stay with me for a long time. 1) I keep thinking about a passage where one of the characters recalled how she referred to her mother who abandoned her as having passed away. After all, the child thought, she passed on a plane and went away (California)! At first she didn't understand why people looked sorrowful. Have always wondered why people use that phrase rather then saying died which is a natural part of life. 2) There's an incident where Olive and her new friend, Jack, are discussing beliefs. Jack calls her a cowboy and after her response he says: "A Republican, then?..." "Oh, for God's sake," she replies, "I didn't say moron. You mean because we have a cowboy for a president? Or before that an actor who played a cowboy? Let me tell you, that idiot ex-cocaine-addict was never a cowboy. He can wear all the cowboy hats he wants. He's a spoiled brat to the manor born. And he makes me puke." And, of course, Jack is a Republican. 3) Finally, she knows that Jack will be a very good friend. "What young people don't know...They do not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies are as needy as their own young, firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly as if it were a tart on a platter with others that got passed around again."

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