Abundance

 

Abundance by Jakob Guanzon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books you read when you need to find compassion and/or realize your life is not so bad. Henry is having a very bad day while trying earnestly to be a good dad and provider to his son Junior, but the result of mistakes in his past, good intentions gone wrong, and dumb luck combine against him. It doesn't help that everyone looks the other way when he needs help, like most of us do when confronted with a less desirable stranger. This book helps us realize that we are all a few bad decisions or stupid mistakes or unlucky breaks from being where Henry is and despite that, he, like us, is trying to do right by the people he loves. And only people who have enough money think that money is not everything: when all you have is $1.34, even a penny is a godsend. Even while you watch this train wreck happen, it's hard not to get sucked into Henry's life and still hope for a different outcome.

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No sunset pyrotechnics for his return, just the sad confetti of brown leaves beneath charcoal clouds.

an American flag dangles from its side, turning stripes into prison cell bars.

It's notably cooler in the frozen food aisle, humming like a choir in a seashell.

At the far end of the aisle is a cluster of shoppers bent over their cart handles, a herd of metallic cattle