Lottery, by Patricia Wood

Ok, folks out there in Blog O Land, I have finished Patricia Wood’s book, Lottery. In looking over some of the comments other people have made, I notice they are all trying to give you reasons why you should read this book. I figured why follow along, right? So, I’m going to let all those other folks follow the leader, while I do something completely different and give y'all 10 reasons why you shouldn’t read it.

Ready? Ok, here we go…

1. If you absolutely can’t stand pure, fluid, prose – you know the kind, it takes you from point A to point B without jarring you or making you go “huh?” along the way because you are trying to figure out what the author means – don’t read Lottery.

2. If you simply cannot abide an interesting, compelling story, the kind that makes you late coming back from breaks at work, don’t read Lottery.

3. If you hate having to take a book to work with you because you can’t make it through the day without reading as much of it as possible, don’t read Lottery.

4. If you think mentally challenged people are somehow less than human, don’t read Lottery.

5. If you absolutely hate it when a story touches you emotionally and makes you feel all gooey inside, don’t read Lottery.

6. If you eat your boogers, don’t read Lottery. Although if you wash your hands first so as not to sully the pages of this wonderful book with your slimy nose goblins, then reading Lottery is probably ok. But remember, boogers on fingers = no Lottery.

7. If you hate staying up until two am reading while your significant other dozes away and complains about the light while he/she is trying to sleep, don’t read Lottery.

8. If you are the type of person who does not like to smile and feel good inside (you know, like those Goth kids who hate everything about life even though they are fourteen years old and have it made?), don’t read Lottery.

9. If you think virtues like friendship, love, self-sacrifice, integrity, and honesty are outdated concepts that have no place in a world of glass and steel, investments and brokers, power and megalomania, then don’t read Lottery. Actually, come to think of it, people who meet this criteria are probably badly in need of a book like Lottery.

And finally...

10. If you are an aspiring author, and you think you might be close to entering that magical realm known as publication, and you also think this means your writing and your story are good, and the last thing you need is for someone else to show you just how far you have to go before you can consider yourself worthy, do not, for your own sake, read Lottery.

Ok, so much of the above list is half-joking. It was meant to be light-hearted and to let you know that you should, indeed, read Lottery. But number 10 is dead-on serious. I consider myself a good writer. I can put sentences together in an engaging manner and when other people read them they know what I am trying to say. My beta readers tell me I am a good writer. A dozen or so agents have told me I am a good writer (handwritten notes, too!). Two publishers have told me I am a good writer, even if they didn’t publish my work. Get my point? I can write, at least, I like to think so.

That illusion has been shattered by a very simple, very likeable narration of an incredible man, Perry L. Crandall, who just happens to have an IQ of 76. Someday I hope to hone my writing skills to a level close to that which is present in Lottery. Not only does this book deserve its place on the bookshelf, it deserves all the accolades it will receive in the coming year, and there will be many, I am sure.

As I finished the last page, all I could think was Bravo. Bravo, Patricia Wood, Bravo! If Perry were sitting there with you, he’d probably tell you that Bravo means I liked it a lot.

In case you can’t tell, he’d be right.