Book Club

[Oznell]

I haven't read it, but listened to a long interview that Hugh Hewitt did on his podcast with the author, the Washington Post's David Von Drehle.   It was riveting.   The book is zooming through book clubs and up sales charts. 

Von Drehle met his jaunty centenarian neighbor Charlie, when Charlie was outside washing a purple car, in their Kansas City neighborhood.  The aged man exerted a charisma bolstered by the fountain of stories he had from his living through a hundred years of tumultuous history.

Amazon's write-up of the book:

When a veteran Washington journalist moved to Kansas, he met a new neighbor who was more than a century old. Little did he know that he was beginning a long friendship -- and a profound lesson in the meaning of life. Charlie White was no ordinary neighbor. Born before radio, Charlie lived long enough to use a smartphone. When a shocking tragedy interrupted his idyllic boyhood, Charlie mastered survival strategies that reflect thousands of years of human wisdom. Thus armored, Charlie’s sense of adventure carried him on an epic journey across the continent, and later found him swinging across bandstands of the Jazz Age, racing aboard ambulances through Depression-era gangster wars, improvising techniques for early open-heart surgery, and cruising the Amazon as a guest of Peru’s president.

David Von Drehle came to understand that Charlie’s resilience and willingness to grow made this remarkable neighbor a master in the art of thriving through times of dramatic change.....

He lived to be 109, from 1905 to 2014.  Kept all his marbles to the very end, decent health till one year before the end.   Born when the Wright Brothers were pulling off their aviation experiments.  What makes this narrative so compelling, I'm sensing, besides Charlie's unquenchable zest for life, is the fact that many of us have had precious relatives of our own memory, living in roughly that same tumultuous time frame.

Univerally acclaimed account of a remarkable, lengthy life, which might suit someone looking for something inspiring that entwines both the personal, and the historical.

Warning--  possible spoilers below! 

Charlie's Dad was killed one morning, when Charlie was a little boy.  Everything changed.  His four siblings, mother and he were on their own.  He was a "free range kid",  doing lots of daring things, and at one point "rode the rails" like so many Depression-era adventurers.

Kansas City was wide open, run by shady syndicates, but was also a famed cradle of jazz.  Charlie learned to play, and, whip smart, financed college with his musicianship.  Became a doctor,  kept honing his skills.

Just one thing that tells you it was a different world then-- through 40,000 surgeries, he was never once sued!!

Triumphed over many life blows-- losing his father, was sent to a camp where teens were sexually abused, first

wife committed suicide, on and on.

According to Von Drehle,  Charlie White had a code and an approach to life that made it all make sense, and helped him thrive.  He shares that in the book.

[KathyM23]

Thanks for posting @Oznell   I just went to the library site and placed this book on hold.  Right now there are 42 requests for this book at our library.  I imagine the 42 will move up to a much larger number quickly.

I love to read historical novels and sounds like Charlie has lived thru the best and the worst of times.  Will be interesting to see the changes thru the decades.

[Oznell]

Well put, @KathyM23 --  my thoughts exactly!

Uh-oh, though, that's a long wait list.  Expect it will be the same here.  I was afraid of that, given the book's popularity.   Have a feeling though that it will be worth the wait. 

[pdxlalesley]

@Oznell  Thank you for telling us about this book. It sounds fascinating and I just ordered it from A.  Should get it tomorrow, I will give my review after reading.  Oznell you are quite a resource for things I never would have known about and always interested me one you posted!

[Oznell]

@pdxlalesley ,  oh, great, I'll look forward to your review!  And thank you for kind words, means a lot.

[YouGoGirl1]

@Oznell, Your book reviews are great. 

[Oznell]

Aw, @YouGoGirl1 ,  you are very kind to say that, thank you!  

[YouGoGirl1]

@Oznell, I will be reading alot of the books that you have

suggested, I do more reading in the winter months. 

[lork]

Thank you for the book review/endorsement!  My public library has ordered it, per my request, and I am looking forward to reading CHARLIE!  I always appreciate reading about new books on this forum. . .so many books. . . so little time. . . 

[Oznell]

Oh, I hope you like it, @lork !   You're so right about so little time--  I always hate to waste it on books that "fall short"...