You Can't Go Wrong : Stories from Nero, New York & Other Tales

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Summary: A Wary-eyed Look at Small Towns
Review: I am a small town guy. Proudly. Almost always have been, physically. Always have been, emotionally. Sometimes choices and/or circumstances place me in big cities or greater (or lesser) suburbia. But - in my head - I am always "small town." We small town folks can recognize other small town people. By the way they talk, or by their opinions or simply by the way they always say hello, nodding to friend or stranger. We share similar problems, and we understand the good parts, too. Bob Cudmore knows both. His book, You Can't Go Wrong: Stories from Nero, NY, & Other Tales, is a marvelous recounting of small town philosophy and feeling, people and places. A small town guy, Cudmore's word paintings of small town characters and philosophies are flawless. Details quickly drawn, not many shades of gray, black strokes and white space for effect. The title, You Can't Go Wrong, reflects a fact: In most small, previously industrial towns, there is certain fatalism, sometimes tempered with what might be taken for hope. Take, for instance, retired mill worker Disease Cotter's statement that, "Used to be is a favorite phase in Nero." Don't all small town guys have nicknames? And, by the way, is there any small town where "used to be" isn't a favorite phrase? "There used to be a paper mill, two even, here." "Used to be" is how we connect our present to our past; it's where our roots and traditions were built. "Remember Lee? He used to be a three-letterman at the high school." Cudmore remembers how important sports are to a small town. Whether it's the five starters on the boy's basketball team or the 22 kids on the Lassie League team, those kids carry a ton of adult hopes and dreams. Win or lose (winning always is better), sports teams give the small town folks vicarious recognition, a place where the momentary light of the TV mention or the newspaper headline erases the shadows cast by the old, empty mill buildings and empty railroad tracks. Small towns like Nero have many other problems in common...urban renewal failures, the disappearance of local flavor as mergers, "big boxes" and other machinations combine to kill small businesses, the long-enduring negative mindset. But, Cudmore also draws out the good stuff about small towns and their inhabitants - the stuff that makes you realize you're lucky to live in a small town. Those of us who grew up in small towns revel in how successful our children are elsewhere. Wanda Tamburino, constituent problem-solver for Nero's popular Congressman, knows why: "Growing up in Nero prepares people for success anywhere else in the country where there are more opportunities than in the declining home town." Small town people also take care of those who hurt after any community disaster. "Our most endearing trait," Cudmore underscores, "is how we still take care of each other." "It never fails," asserts Cudmore, "life goes on," whether it's in Nero or some other place. Inherently suspicious of "new," "big," "different" and some "newcomers" for a while, small town folks survive despite the odds, the changes and the rest of the world. Cudmore captures the nobility of small town life and people with descriptions, commentary and anecdotes that made me roar at times and sigh loudly at others. It's going to be one Hell of a movie. But, before you see it, read the book - You Can't Go Wrong.