As Long As It's Not The Armpit

            I never really imagine living in places other than New York City. I always take my living in the city as a given. But while reading Tales of The Madman Underground by John Barnes, I started to feel grateful for the city that I live in. The main character in the book, Karl Shoemaker lives in Lightsburg, Ohio. Karl calls it the armpit of America and 100 pages in I already am starting to agree with him. It seems to me that the high-school kids have to look out for their ever-drunk parents instead of the other way around. Reading this book makes me feel grateful but also sad for people who do live in towns like these who do have to take care of their parents. 

            In the book, Carl is trying to be a normal guy in his high school, but he's finding it hard. There's two main reasons, one he is part of a group of people that call themselves the Madmen Underground. Really, it's just all the people that are subject to school therapy, but other kids use it as an opportunity to make them look different. The second reason is his mother. She used to be fine when her husband, Karl's father, was still town mayor. But he went from town mayor to town drunk to town cancer patient to dead, and Karl's mother was still not over how quickly her life had fell apart. and she started drinking way too much and depending on Karl for all her money. It's hard for me to imagine a place where seventeen year old kids have to work five different jobs at a time. I was also surprised by the parents that most people in the town of Lightsburg. They seemed like they never really had a chance to be something. Like they graduated from Lightsburg High School and then got pregnant, married someone and became an alcoholic. Living in Park Slope, it's hard for me to imagine this to occur. I think that's why I like the book so much. because it's an eye-opening experience. 

         I am not done with Tales of The The Madman Underground, and I still haven't reached the conflict yet. But now that I have had time to think about what I've read I feel very grateful. Grateful for both my parents and where I live. I'm grateful for the fact that I don't have to hold 5 jobs at the same time. I'm glad I have read this book because I think it might change my opinions about my life. It probably won't have a lasting impression on me. But at least for a few days, I think I am going to grateful for everything that I have.