I was so worried about this book. It was short but non-fiction so there was the possibility that it would take me forever to read it. And I was worried because it sounded so interesting but I was worried that it would bore me. I grew up in a little farm town. (We have t-shirts that say "A quaint drinking town with a farming problem.") I work in a ridiculously small town. (People in my small town don't know where this town is and it's 5 minutes away! They don't have their own school AND they are bordered by an intensely large and smelly cattle farm. My library is where the kids hang out. Really.)
However, Valby hooked me right away.
Valby is a writer from New York who was asked to find a town that was virtually untouched by pop culture and write an article about it. She found Utopia through a friend, wrote her article, and went back for a number of months in order to write her book. She focuses and specific stories in this town where everybody knows everybody and your a newcomer unless your grandfather lived there.
My favorite story focused on a family of four boys, three of which were in the military. In the second chapter, we hear about one of them dying. The way the town pulls together is beautiful and the pain of the family is heart wrenching. I had tears in my eyes the whole time I was reading that chapter. It was beautiful.
Valby manages to make Utopia feel like your own hometown. I loved how close I felt to the characters. I was never bored. This was one of the best books I've read this year and I definitely suggest it.
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