If you're looking for a humorous
book to read this summer, pick up YOU
& ME, a novel by Padgett Powell. A modern day WAITING FOR GODOT, YOU &
ME chronicles the conversations between two men, sitting on a porch
somewhere between Bakersfield, California and Jacksonville, Florida. The men
use a methodology akin to a modern day Socrates. The topics selected for
discussion run from the profound -- e.g., how to live everyday as if it's your
last -- to the mundane -- e.g., walking to the nearby liquor store while wearing
orange jumpsuits and orange electrical cords. There is the juxtaposition of the
ghosts of Julia Childs and Crazy Horse; the hair on Custer and on turtles; the
Coppertone girl and Buster Brown. One of my favorites, however, is the
discussion of feeling insurance:
"The
premiums would be impossible, the actuarial tables a nightmare.
And this is why
Lloyds does not offer it. Blues insurance. Quite an idea.
Verification
tricky. Who would not claim?"
Powell is witty, sardonic, and clever. Take a look at the
ups and downs of modern day America. Check out YOU & ME!
