Porch Talk: Stories of Decency, Common Sense, and Other Endangered Species
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"Practical, poignant, funny, and frank." Paul Harvey Jr. Evoking a time when life revolved around the front porch, where friends gathered, stories were told, and small moments took on large meaning, in today's hurry-up world, Philip Gulley's essays remind us of the world we once shared and can share again. "Reading Porch Talk is like sitting next to an old friend and listening to the music of his storytelling as we used to do back when." Charles Osgood, anchor of CBS News' Sunday Morning When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the members of his quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of the essays would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than one million copies in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch. "Philip Gulley sees the world around him clearly, tells us about it directly, and leaves us thinking that he would be a good man to spend time with. That's three-for-three, as far as I'm concerned. You can't do better than that." Bob Greene, author of And You Know You Should Be Glad Publishers Weekly It is no insult to this occasionally moralizing humorist and Quaker pastor to say that he is a smalltown raconteur who writes tales tailor-made for readers who would never dream of living in one. In the compilation of anecdotes, recollections, riffs and barely disguised homilies that constitute his 14th book, Gulley, best known for his Harmony novels as well as theological ruminations like If Grace Is True, skillfully mines his personal history and that of his neighbors for inspirational morsels. Family, friends, faith, community and even current events figure in meditations that span such topics as the architecture of his home, the virtues of intellectual inconsistency, his wife's passion for exercise and healthy eating, and whether it is indeed possible to have too many friends. While not afraid to be provocative on controversial subjects like creationism or politics, Gulley's general tone is straightforward, whimsical and irenic. One often wishes that he would spend more time with a particular topic, instead of giving it glancing attention before moving on. But urban readers who imbibe their literature with their lattes will find him as refreshing as do those who actually create the tapestry of homespun life Gulley so unpretentiously chronicles. (June)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
