Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Memoir
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
“Joe
Cottonwood was born in 1947, bent his first nail in 1952, and wrote his first
story in 1956. He's been a writer and a carpenter ever since.” In addition to
this memoir, Cottonwood has several other books available aimed at every age
range from children, to young adult, to us grownups.
For more,
visit the author’s website.
Description:
“Joe
Cottonwood repairs homes. With each job, he enters somebody’s private world.
Revealing a life. Or changing it. Joe has worked as a carpenter, plumber, and
electrician for most of his life.”
Appraisal:
I was
slightly apprehensive about 99 Jobs,
not sure whether it was something I’d enjoy or not. On one hand, I’ve found
memoirs about ordinary people from different walks of life to be fascinating in
the glimpses they give into those lives, helping give me a deeper understanding
of a variety of people and, in theory, maybe making me a slightly better
person. On the other hand, how well would you expect a typical carpenter,
plumber, and all around handyman to be able to string words together? Hopefully
better than I can drive a nail, replace shingles, or for that matter, string
words together. It turns out Cottonwood
isn’t your stereo-typical blue collar guy. (Maybe there is a lesson for me there.)
99 Jobs could be viewed as a series of
vignettes, each telling the tale of a single job over his long career. Every
“job” or chapter could stand alone. One of the first chapters, Junior Electrician, chronicles Joe’s job
changing light bulbs on a college campus in St Louis. That he was also a
student at that same college, eventually graduating and working as a computer
operator, is one way he turned out not to be your typical handyman, eventually
realizing that he preferred working with his hands, often outside exposed to
the elements, rather than spending his workday in the sterile environment of
the computer room.
However,
taken together, the individual jobs or chapters form a coherent whole that
paints a picture of Cottonwood as a person. Besides giving an idea of what the
life of a handyman might be like, they’re also full of lessons about life and
people well beyond just the nuts and bolts of Cottonwood’s work.
FYI:
Some adult
language.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
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