I've recently joined a
book discussion on Patricia Wood's novel
Lottery. It was both a good book, and a good discussion. Ms. Wood stopped in to participate in the discussion, and I thought that added a lot.
Lottery is the tale of Perry, who is not retarded. His "number" (IQ) is 76, and you have to be below 75 to be retarded. Perry is clearly above that number.
Perry is a lucky man. (Lucky is his middle name.) He wins the lottery, $12 million worth of lottery. The tale that unfolds around this is beautifully done. Family members turn up out of the woodwork, all eager to help Perry manage his money. Strange how they show up now, when none were particularly eager to help before.
The story centers around issues of family, money, trust, intelligence, discrimination, and cheating. It's a great read, weaving all of these wonderful threads together. The story is told by Perry, and Wood does a masterful job of capturing his voice. Not only does she seem to understand the life of a person with a number somewhere around 76, but she has a good knowledge of sailing (the setting of the story) and lottery winnings (her dad was a lottery winner). The knowledge she brings to the narrative creates a very rich tale indeed.
If you decide to read the book, make sure and stop in at the blog discussion after you've done so. It will always be up, so it doesn't matter that you stop in "late."
If you get a chance, pop by and cast a vote for the next book we'll use in our book club discussion 
