Bad Cold by Shel Silverstein

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  This cold is too much for my shortsleeve. Go get me a Kleenex--and fast. I sniffle and wheeze And I'm ready to sneeze And I don't know how long I can last.... Atchoo--it's to wet for a kleenex, So bring me handkerchief, quick. It's--atchoo--no joke, Now the handkerchief's soaked. Hey, a dish towel just might do the trick. Atchoo--it's too much for bath towel. There never has been such a cold. I'll be better off With that big tablecloth, No--bring me the flag off the pole. Atchoo--bring the clothes from the closet, Atchaa--get the sheets from the bed, The drapes off the window, The rugs off the floor To soak up this cold in my head. Atchoo-- hurry down to the circus And ask if they'll lend you the tent. You say they said yes? Here it comes--Lord be blessed-- Here it is--Ah-kachoooo--there it went.

"Blue Highways" Book Review

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Greatly enjoyed this book, the first of three in a travel series. Sure, it's dated by now (first published in 1982), but it's interesting to use this as a landmark of sorts, to mark how things have changed over the years--and how some things never seem to change. 

Felt very much "along for the ride" in his van, "Ghost Dancing." His periods of insight and reflection were refreshing from the sense that here's a man who made a trip--he did not simply take one. In solitude, he thought and in writing, he shares many introspective discoveries. These were the best parts of the trip in reading the book; however, of all the place and people Heat-Moon meets, he seems to be followed by the "same cast of characters" (as it were). No matter where he visits, everyone speaks with the author's voice, with the same kind of whit and humor. Occasionally he seems to be condescending or takes a mocking tone but one could chalk that up to road-weariness. One is confident the author met real people but it's too bad he does not let them speak for themselves. 

Overall, an enjoyable and very distracting read.

Paperback, 428 pages
Published October 19th 1999 by Back Bay Books (first published 1982)
Original Title: Blue Highways: A Journey into America
ISBN: 0316353299 (ISBN13: 9780316353298)

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