The love of family. The heartbreak of war. The triumph of coming home.
1940. Rural Wisconsin. Sixteen-year-old Earl “Earwig” Gunderman is not like other boys his age. Fiercely protected by his older brother, Earwig sees his town and the world around him through the prism of his own unique understanding. He sees his mother’s sadness and his father’s growing solitude. He sees his brother, Jimmy, … brother, Jimmy, falling in love with the most beautiful girl in town. And while Earwig is unable to make change for customers at his family’s store, he is singularly well suited to understand what other people in his town cannot: that life as they know it is about to change; the coming war will touch them all.
For Jimmy will enlist in the military. And Earwig will watch his parents’ marriage buckle under the strain of a family secret. And when Jimmy returns — a fractured shadow of his former self — it is Earwig’s turn to care for him. His struggles to right the wrongs visited upon his revered older brother by war, women, and life are at once heartwarming and riotously funny. Their family and town irrevocably altered, Earwig and Jimmy fight to find their own places in a world changed forever.
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The world is on the cusp of war, suspended between the deprivations of the Depression and rationing of World War II, but for Earl and his older brother Jimmy, life is a series of small-town adventures – hunting, fishing, and drinking beer chief among them. Everything changes when Jimmy enlists in the National Guard on his 21st birthday, and is …
The greatest thing about this book is that you don’t read the narrative, you hear it. And the simple-but-profound voice entertains and amazes you, warms your heart, and makes you laugh (very frequently) all at the same time. A confluence of the distinct undercurrents of a poignant joy and a joyful poignancy create a literary effect as rich in its …
I identified and empathized heartily with Earwig. That made the book very engaging for me. It’s a great story.
My only criticism is one I’m not sure I’m right about and would like to hear what other readers thought. I thought that the way Earwig talked would have improved as he got older. I know he had some kind of brain damage, but after …
Very good story about a typical American family enduring life through WWII. It’s told from the viewpoint of Earl (“Earwig”), the younger son who’s developmentally challenged from a childhood febrile illness. Though he isn’t smart, he grows wise in the ways of human nature, moral character, and how to be a good person.
Loved this book. The narrator was so likable and realistic. Some really funny scenes and some very poignant ones!
At the beginning I thought what kind of book is this. Then I began to get into the story and really loved it.
Well, I didn’t actually finish it. This one went on to my “gave up” pile. Could not get beyond the crudity and find anything that grabbed me enough to keep reading.
Liked reading about WWII soldiers returning home and how difficult it was to return
I fond the book to be a realistic novel with great storyline and charatures. Liked the ending
Great characters. An honest feel for the time. Love the development of relationships. Recommended it to friends.
Uplifting story of a potentially maudlin event. Dying with dignity.
I highly recommend this book.