Lightning Song

I picked up this little innocent looking tome at our local library sale for a quarter and I have to say that it was my best deal this year. The book is overflowing with laughter, tears, joy, heartbreak and fun. It sat around for months, ignored. I finally picked it up a few days ago and I'm so glad I did. I laughed so hard, so often, that my husband thought I'd finally gone over to the dark side permanently... (if you know what I mean). This story (which is 110% Southern) is told by 12 year old Leroy Dearman who lives in Mississippi on a llama farm and is caught in the cruel throes of puberty. I had no idea that llamas sang. They may or may not, but if Leroy said it, I believe it. The laughter begins when Leroy's Uncle Harris moves in lock, stock, Playboys and all into the attic, having left his wife, Hannah, on the Gulf Coast. Let me pause here to say that Uncle Harris's unholy, funny, knee-slapping, rolling around on the floor HILARIOUS story about the blue-runner snake amost killed me. I thought I would die laughing and I don't laugh at just any old thing. But it only got better once I regained my dignity and wiped the snot and tears off my face and kept reading. (I've read countless thousands of books in my lifetime and when I say something is this funny, you should be hitting the "Order Now" button if you're in need of a soul-cleansing laugh....) When the New People move in next door (across the pasture, that is) and Leroy happens over when they're on the way to grief therapy and decides to go along for the ride, so to speak, well, I lost it again. I had to put the book away for an hour or so to catch my breath, blow my nose, wipe the tears-from-laughing-so-hard off my face and recoup my twice-lost dignity. Dear Lord, I thought, I've known people like these characters and I thought nobody else on earth was this crazy/sad/funny....And, how did I live this long and not read any books by Lewis Nordan? To wrap this up, I went and ordered every book I could find by Lewis Nordan. And I'm on as tight a budget as the rest of you, but you can't put a price sticker on laughter. I sure wish I'd found Mr. Nordan sooner---but better late than never. Now get over there and hit that 'Add to Shopping Cart' button for 273 pages of fabulous, larger than life, awesome fiction.

Our erstwhile narrator, Leroy Dearman, is twelve years old and lives on a llama farm in Mississippi with this tee totaling parents and younger sisters. The story opens with Leroy sneaking into the attic to get a gander of his Uncle Harris's nudie mags. When he sees a picture of a woman without clothes, he believes she'd been tricked by the photographer into getting dressed in clothes way to small for her and then having her picture taken without her knowledge. Leroy and his family lead a pretty ordinary llama farming life, until Uncle Harris shows up in his sportscar. Well, there was that one incident where his grandfather passed away in the attic. Leroy tried CPR and brought the old man back to life. At least he thought he had as he left the attic. However the old geezer was shortly discovered deader than a doornail. Anyway the attic was empty now, so when Harris's wife kicked him out, it was the perfect place for him. Uncle Harris brings glamour and excitement into Leroy's life, into everybody's life. Every night he has a little party with what he calls grog rations (a different alcoholic drink every day). Swami Don (Leroy's father) does not partake, but his wife does. Everybody, except maybe Swami Don, is captivated by this freeloader. Leroy both loves and hates his parents, like a typical twelve year old. He adores his mother when they listen to the song of the llamas at sunrise together, but hates her when he sees her kissing Uncle Harris behind his father's back. Swami Don has a bad arm and behaves like he's living a hundred years in the past, however he's a wonderful father, mostly. Then there are the new people, a couple that has moved in down the way. They like to play dress up, talk in funny accents and they befriend Leroy when he needs one. They irritate the heck out of Swami Don, as they seem to see through a marriage and a family that is falling apart. And lastly there is that illusive character in the story, the lightning. Somehow, in a totally believable way, it's responsible for healing wounds, righting wrongs, and putting the family back together again in this cracking good story full of laughs and tears, wit and charm and characters that were dancing around in my brain long after I finished the book.

This was the first Lewis Nordan novel I read, and it was the perfect way to start. This book is funny--very, very funny.If you are a fan of magic realism--Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez--you have to give this novel a try; it is magic realism with a southern twist. Lightning continues to strike the house, becoming a living, breathing character in the novel. Magazines glow. A girl with fins twirls a baton with amazing talent.About half way through this book, you will be back online looking for other Lewis Nordan novels, so you won't have to wait a second between books.

I discovered him last summer, and Buddy Nordan immediately ascended to the top of my list. I recommmend evry one of his books, especially Lightning Song and Wolf Whistle. Read him now! You won't regret it.

A very readable, moving account of an emotional period of a 12-year old boy's existence. While the lone fault of this novel may be that many questions seem left unanswered, that could be intentional...as if Nordan is saying there aren't any easy answers in life, especially when you're twelve and have just made the discovery that you're parents are no longer in love. Alternating between funny, painful and heartwarming, at certain moments Lightning Song manages to touch on all the emotions at once. Enjoyable and rewarding, this book will have me reading the author's other works in short order.