Lightning Song

We had a friend over for dinner the other night, and I overheard him asking Reggie who is favorite Southern author was. His answer - Lewis Nordan. I'd forgotten about Mr. Nordan - he's such a great writer! I read his books right after we got married and moved to Houston. I was unemployed, so had a lot of time on my hands. I read read read all day, which sounds great, but in actuality was very painful because I needed a job and kept getting rejected and sent out a bazillion resumes and think they all got sucked into a resume vortex in space.

Anyway, back to Lewis. He has a wonderfully unique writing style, a way with words and descriptions and character development that fascinates me. He is able to capture pain and humanity in such a raw way, but still maintains a sense of humor. I like all his novels and short stories [which are great for after dinner reading], but my favorite is Lightning Song...because sometimes all you want to do is dress-up in costume and go sit in a broken down Crown Victoria on the front lawn all day [read it and you'll know what I mean!].

"Leroy sat in his seat and looked. He had never been inside such a car. He loved this car. Just sitting inside it, behind the busted windshield, beneath the tattered lining of the roof, in the stink of ancient mildew, he knew that life was good. He knew he had found a safe place, with people like himself...Good things could actually happen to a person who rode in this car. Dreams could come true, broken hearts could be unbroken, lost love could be reclaimed...The person who owned this car would have a magic charm against all future harm, and grief would have no sting."