Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder

In this world there are people who will make a direct difference in peoples' lives and in the lives of those who only know them through the words of those who write about them. Tracy Kidder has written the most incredible book about Dr. Jim O'Connell and his effort to mitigate the homeless situation in Boston. It is an eye-opening account of O'Commell and his almost saintly devotion to helping those who are in desperate need, physically, mentally, and socially - those who make their homes on street corners, ally ways, and door fronts - Rough Sleepers.

O'Connell has led the Boston Health Care for the Homeless since its inception in 1985. Harvard educated, he had completed his residency and was going to take a position in NYC when he was approached to become associated with the BHCFTH. He deferred his appointment at Sloan Kettering for a year. After that year, he realized where his true calling was. He had gone out 2 nights a week on the program's van and saw the wretched conditions under which so many were living. He and his colleagues treated disease, provided blankets, and gave food to those who were on the streets. 

Kidder also immerses himself into the life of O'Connell as he shadowed him for nearly three years. It is through Kidder's eyes that we are swept into the lives of the homeless and their plight. The reader meets those whom the doctor has helped and whose lives were firmly touched by him, especially Tony Colombo, who, despite being charged with attempted rape and being a drug addict, tries to help others in his same predicament. 

At times this is a very tough book to read. However, it is so uplifting to see what a difference one person can make in the lives of others. There is no one solution that will help alleviate the problem of the unhoused. Aa O'Connell and Kidder say it will require the devoted work of many agencies, especially the educational community. Without a well-compensated teacher's corps, there will be no end to it. Beyond that affordable housing, mental health care, and a shift in political focus all need to converge to help the plight of those Rough Sleepers. 

We were delighted to hear both Kidder and O'Connell speak at the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures 10 Evenings program. Their strong passion as evident from the stage as it is in the book. READ IT.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

When I first heard about the premise of the book, it seemed like it was going to be a rollicking comedy. Completely missed the mark on that. Indeed, it was humorous in parts, but the overriding them spoke volumes about the rights of people and how far a government can go to regulate its constituents - quite relevant today. The novel takes the form of letters between two cousins, Ella Minnow Pea and Tassie, as well as others associated with the families.

In the middle of the town on an independent island, Nollop,  off the coast coast of South Carolina. The island is devoted to Nevin Nollop, the creator of the phrase, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." The sentence is memorialized by a series of tiles on a monument to Nollop. All is well on the island until the letter z drops from the monument. The High Island Council decides that this is an omen and that Nollop has desired the inhabitants to eliminate the letter from all written and spoken dialog. If a citizen used a word containing that letter, then punishment would be inflicted, escalating at each transgression. Not only did this have far reaching effects on the people, but the library had to purge any books with z. 

As the novel progresses, so do the number of tiles that fall from the statue, creating quite a dilemma for all. Substitute words have to be invented and the islanders become more frustrated and irate at the authoritarian tactics of the council. An underground resistance movement is founded with the goal to find a shorter sentence that uses all the letters of the alphabet so that the council might realize that the tiles falling does not indicate the desire of Nollop to forbid words that contained them. A journalist, Nate Warren, arrives at the island hoping to lend scientific evidence of the reason the tiles are dropping off. Meanwhile, the letters keep getting more enigmatic as Dunn is under the constraint of coming up with words that contain only the approved letters. 

The wordplay throughout the novel is brilliant and puts the reader through his/her paces in deciphering words. This lends humor and farce to the read. However, it like Animal Farm, is political satire, examining how much the freedom of expression of the citizenry can be restricted - book burning and shuttering of libraries. Ella is a strong woman and she perseveres to find a solution. It was a quick, enjoyable and thought-provoking read.