Unnecessary Talking: The Montesano Stories

by Mike O'Connor

Literary Nonfiction. In this warm and humorous memoir, the boy you meet is irrepressible, devilish, curious, rambunctious, imaginative, sports-minded, friendly, naive, and absolutely joyful--definitely the kind of boy who would get in trouble from his teacher for "unnecessary talking." Mike O'Connor's stories remind a reader of what it was like to grow up in small-town 1950's America. "With UNNECESSARY TALKING, poet Mike O'Connor leads us through the streets and neighborhoods of Montesano, Washington--circa early 1950s. These stories and sketches make up a memoir of a young boy's clean, clear understanding of a world where mystery is common sense and adult rules are slippery as a wet bar of soap. O'Connor's writings, though rooted deeply in the rain-soaked soils of the Pacific Northwest, reach out to touch, in a tender and wise way, the very heart of an America lost but still loved"--Finn Wilcox.

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the feeling of the stories was sometimes more successful than individual sentences, I loved this collection about growing up in a small town WA during the 1950’s. I especially enjoyed reading the exciting bits out loud to my mother, who was a child in the same time, if not the same place as Mike O’Connor. She had also taken part in quite a few bean wars, and would have followed Mike right out the door after witnessing the doctor give a chicken pox vaccination. (Who am I kidding, she would have beat him out the door and been half way down the street.) I think my favorite stories were Daredevils, The Guns of Montesano, and Tonsillectomy by Aliens.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely and nostalgic. This reads like little stories our dads might share with us. The writing is a bit uneven and voice of the narrator is so casual as to be distracting. That being said, there are some descriptive bits that truly shine and stay with the reader.