Status Updates From Barnes & Noble Homer Price

Some societal notes here: the only snafu is the fact that the sign painter is a union man and demands wages up top for his union workers (of hich he is the only member). There is a great 150 year celebration of the town of Centerburg in which the African Baptist organist and choir are the central musical participants. However Homer and his friends represent the Native Americans since none of them are about.

The product is a community in which each home is do precisely alike that the only way the new tenets can find their home is by a mathematical formula. To me it’s sounds horrible but Elon Musk is working on some u it’s a lot like this.

The title “Nothing New Under the Sun (Hardly)” shows how consistent life in Centerburg is. This might explain Homer’s Uncle Ulysses and his fixation on labor saving devices. The last chapter is “The Wheels of Progress.” In it he and Miss Enders combine their vision (and her money) to build in record time a new suburb of prefab, mass produced houses.

It’s a testament to the age of the story that the complications of getting the old man to buy new plates for his antique mouse catcher and then paying him the extra to let the children go as well only amounted to sixty dollars.

“Somebody out of a book” the narrating town hit it on the target. There in town comes the Pied Piper and Rip Van Winkle. I’m just happy that the town is literate enough.

“Mystery Yarn” is primarily a story of a romantic triangle between The Sheriff (who constantly gets his words mixed up), Homer’s Uncle Telemachus (another name from Greek myth) and the single woman who taught weaving in town, a Miss Terwilliger. It is the competition of the unwinding of giant balls of yard or string thing brings the story to absurdest level typical of McCloskey.

…clever plan is to use the woman’s offer to pay a $100 reward as a prize to sell the donuts. The winner, a black boy named Rupert Black, announces his success with accented phrase “I GAWT it!“. (If the text was not clear enough this book is beautifully illustrated and Black’s shown with the prize doughnut in his hand). Nothing overt, but old socialite traveling worker and black citizen all go home happy.

…who had stopped by and who learning that they were making the donuts offers to make the dough herself. As wealthy as she is and she arrives with a chauffeur and a limousine she quickly strips off her finery and gets right to work in the kitchen and everyone admits they’re excellent donuts. Her accidental loss of a diamond bracelet into the mix is the key to moving these donuts out of the diner. Homer’s…

…adds humor wailing in fear of the return of his wife Aunt Agnes (Aggy). But the most interesting aspect of this story for me is the social dynamics between characters. Homer be friends what is basically a traveling hobo salesman and the two of them then work out a try and sell the donuts as best they can. The donuts have been in fact improved by a wealthy woman

Fundamentally the plot follows the same storyline as “the sorcerers’ apprentice.” The device will not turn off and the next thing Homer and the one patron of the dinner, Mr. Gabby, (who is a traveling advertising sandwich man) find themselves practically a-wash with donuts. Uncle Ulysses who had left Homer in charge of the diner as he went off to the barbershop to play cards…

“The Donuts” is the story I recall the clearest. My copy of “Homer Price” features Homer eating a fresh donut from the machine. In the story we meet Homer’s uncle Ulysses (note the classical references throughout the book. Throughout the text ulysses cries out “Zeus!” as an explanation). Ulysses has a mania for labor saving devices.including the donut maker.

The Supeduper movie the boys see sounds A LOT like the Fleshier cartoon “Superman vs. Mad Scientist”. Homer’s hard logic has no fancy.

In “The Cosmic Comic” there’s a wry bit of laughter at the cost to superheroes, Superman especially. Homer’s friend Freddy is a big fan of Superduper. (Wears a red, skin tight outfit with a blue cape (copy-write suite avoided), but Homer is not impressed. The stories are not only silly they are repetitive.

According to Wikipedia “James Daugherty said of Homer Price, ‘It is America laughing at itself with a broad and genial humanity, without bitterness or sourness or sophistication.’” That gentle spirit certainly does run through the story. Even the gun carrying thieves turn out to be basically good and nonviolent men. Homer is hard working, clever and private.