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Manhattanite Peter Leroy gets a note from a former high school classmate in Babbington, Long Island telling him to come back and see what’s happened to the town: it’s become a theme park. The town has re-created 1950 America, complete with period actors and Peter finds himself part of the lore as the “Birdboy of Babbington”, the boy who built an aerocycle from plans in Impractical Craftsman magazine and flew it to New Mexico, Land of Enchantment.

Or did he?

After he and his wife, Albertine, visit Babbington, he decides to set the record straight. This is the first of three short novels of Peter’s journey. It’s also one of the best and funniest books I’ve read in quite some time. I have to get to the library this afternoon to get book 2.

The characters are so vividly drawn, even the peripheral ones (like the flyguys and their swagger, and Baudelaire who has an uncanny resemblance to Nadar’s portrait photograph of 1863.)

The first novel ends with Peter being given a rousing send off by the Mayor of Babbington and Miss Clam Fest in her strapless gown, towing a banner advertising “KAP’N KLAM IS COMING! THE HOME OF HAPPY DINNERS!”

I found the newly released book 2 on the “new books” shelf at the library and it looked interesting, so I thought I should probably read book 1 first. When I found it on the shelf, it was next to Reservations Recommended by the same author, a book I’d read several years ago and enjoyed very much. I may have to read the rest of his stuff!

Addendum

I just re-read the synopsis of Reservations Recommended (it’s been years since I’ve read it and all I can really remember is the general them and that I’d enjoyed it). The main protagonist of that novel is “Mathew Barber”. A Mathew Barber is also in Taking Off. He’s the guy who set the whole “flying to New Mexico” in motion. Mathew was given an application to a summer school for “students with promise” and was told to give it to Peter, but instead filled it out and won the appointment for himself without ever telling Peter about it.

The whole flying thing got started because, after he found out, Peter decided he wanted to go to New Mexico, too, and invented the Faustroll Institute in order to convince his parents to let him go. Building and aerocycle (from parts pilfered and improvised) and flying it to the Land of Enchantment would convince Faustroll of his “promise” and would, therefore, admit him.

I suppose it’s the same Mathew Barber?

This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.