It's all in the numbers: Lottery: The fotrunes and misfortunes of Perry L Crandell (Lottery - Patricia Wood)

Member Name: andyk910

Product:	Lottery - Patricia Wood
Date:	02/04/09 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Will make you sometimes want to hug a stranger

Disadvantages: And sometimes want to kick the cat

Perry L "Lucky" Crandall is not retarded. Both his IQ number (76) and his beloved Gram tell him so, even if some others would choose to disagree. In this book of contrasts the apparently poor Perry is shown actually to be rich (in friends as well as money): And the serene and slow (but not retarded) Perry appears far smarter than his fast but stupid, bickering family. The book might make you laugh out loud and could make you cry too; alternately heartening and frustrating, funny and sad, there are times when you are reading it that you'll want to hug a stranger and times you'll want to kick the cat.

This book is peopled with three-dimensional, believable characters both good and bad. They are the people in the small-town life of the narrator, the slow (but sure) Perry from whose perspective the story is told. Perry is puzzled by some of what he sees and misses nuance but his instincts - backed up by the acerbic guardian-angel voice of his grandmother in his head - keep his feet on the right path most of the time, sufficient at least to delight his friends and frustrate his foes.

Well written and well paced, this is a heart-warming and absorbing story of a man making his way with some love and a little luck through a life that is not always easy. This is not Forrest Gump, there are no devastating insights here but there is truth, compassion, humour and love.

A great read.

Summary: Try it. Wothwhile in my opnion