Recently, I had the pleasure of reviewing Ben Miller's
Riverbend Chronicle: The Junkification of a Boyhood Idyll Amid the Curious Glory of Urban Iowa, for the
Wapsipinican Almanac (
http://wapsialmanac.com/).
Reading the book was like taking a stroll through the city that raised me. Here's an excerpt:
In Miller’s memoir, he comes of age in Davenport the same year I leave
it behind: 1972. The
place, with a population of around 90,000—not necessarily all good—citizens, is
situated on the northern shore of the Mississippi River where it bends around
eastern Iowa. At that point, the river actually flows from east to west instead
of the predominantly north-to-south path it takes for most of its passage
through the heartland. Growing up, the Mississippi River was my true south. It
kept me from becoming lost because I could look down the hill, see the river
churning along and know which direction to turn. When
I slipped between the covers of Miller’s book, the place names, the geography,
the landmarks all felt as warm and familiar to me as the favorite hand-me-down woolen
jacket I wore when I lived there. So, as I read, the question became: Would the
book resonate for others as it did for me?
Pick up a copy of the Almanac and the book at your local bookseller.
