Quick comment on what Betty Sue said re: following the example of our parents and grandparents:  My grandmother, now deceased, always gave everyone the same simple financial advice:  "If you don't have the cash, you can't afford it."  Boy, was she right, and sadly, nobody listened, including me.  When she needed to buy...more

One final message to the readers of this book (and many others):  Look past what's happening, and ask why it's happening.  Don't judge it for what you see on the surface -- do a little excavating!  That's when things start to unfold, and the purpose of this great story becomes more apparent.  Cheers

You know, Wastedtime, I think I might go as far as to say that the hunting cap was Allie!

Very nice, Wastedtime!  I like the idea of Phoebe in that role, and I see the validity in it.  I was thinking about the hunting cap.  I think the fact that it was red was significant -- representing blood, and hunting representative of death, or premature death?  The fact that it wasn't exactly en vogue to wear it with...more

So... you know this book well, do you?  I never hear any mention of the superb humor, or of the tragedy of neglect of a young man who obviously has become lost in the fray of his family's grief in dealing with the death of their young son.  Holden is simply the product of neglect (unintentional, or symptomatic of the e...more

Can you imagine being rear-ended in a Smartcar?  I can picture myself during rush hour on the Sunset Highway, and being bashed in from behind by a semi.  There's no "cushion" (back end) for the semi to hit, and therefore nowhere for it to go but through you, and nowhere for you to go but either through the windshield o...more

As for me, I'd rather not drive a coffin.

She's probably gone public to save face.  If I were her (and dumb enough to get married again), I might have, too.  She didn't want anyone to think that this was her fault, since she's been married like 4 times (actually, I don't think she ever married Ricky Taubman, her son Jack's father, but I could be mistaken).  No...more

Another great old drunk is Eddy ("Was you ever bit by a dead bee?") from To Have and Have Not, the first of the Bogart and Bacall films.  Poor old Eddy has tremors and seeks a drink wherever he can get one, and takes a lot of abuse as he does it.  He's so lovable, though, that I'd welcome him into my family, just to ma...more