The World According to Chuck
I was in Borders the other day, and an employee went by with an entire cart filled with copies of “He’s Just Not That Into You.” I heard about this book on the radio, so I picked up a copy and flipped through it. Trust me, the table of contents will tell you all you need to know. This book has nothing in it. It has nothing important to say and adds nothing to the world. Nothing.
But it will sell thousands of copies because “they” decided that it should sell thousands of copies. “They” are the people who decide how you and I will live. “They” decide what clothes will be in style this season, and “they” decide what music our children will listen to.
Who are these people?
So I watched the cart roll by with fifty pink and green books on it, and I thought about the book that is sitting beside my bed, right next to my lamp so that I can read a little of it every night. This book gives me such pleasure, but it won’t sell many copies because “they” don’t know about it, and “they” wouldn’t know a good book from a bad one in any case.
The name of the book is “The World According to Chuck,” written by our own salon blogger, Chuck Sigars. Chuck lives in Mukilteo, Washington, a little north of Seattle. It’s a small town that is very proud of its lighthouse. Chuck writes a weekly column for the Mukilteo Beacon. He’s in no hurry to get anywhere with this column, thank God, but instead meanders through life talking about Christmas Trees in March, broken tailbones, an autistic son, parenting, typewriters, and more.
Now I thought I had a handle on Chuck’s writing because I read his blog, but no sir. I had not experienced The World According to Chuck until I started at the beginning of his book and took a trip to Mukilteo. Reading this book is like living in Mukilteo and opening the paper each week to see what Chuck has to say. Chuck's book is a lot like his little town, now that I think about it. It’s not on the beaten path. No one will walk by you in Borders pushing a cart filled with Chuck's book. And if you generally choose to pass up towns like Mukilteo as you rush down the interstate toward the big city, then maybe this book will not interest you.
On the other hand, if you like home cooking, real living, deep friendships, tragedy, and quirky humor, you need to get out of Borders, off the main road, and buy this book, dammit. This is your chance to be one of those people who finds the good stuff that no one else knows about yet.
Look, Annie Dillard once said that writers should be careful of what they read. She’s right, and I am careful. Here is what I am currently reading:
“Jude the Obscure” by Thomas Hardy
“The Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan
“Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison
and...
“The World According to Chuck” by Chuck.
I’m just sayin…
click to buy it
rlp
11:14:27 PM 
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