Jane Does It Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      Kent State, Patty Hearst, Jim Jones and the People's Temple, the AIDS crisis--and all this from the vantage point of an Iowa farm.

                                        Only Jane Smiley could do such a thing, which is why "Early Warning," the second volume in the Langdon Family Trilogy, or as she calls it, The Last Hundred Years Trilogy, may be the most interesting for so  many of us, who are the Baby Boomer Generation.  The novel starts in 1953--I was born, a year later, and it ends in 1986, so it basically spans my lifetime till then.  Jane's characters hearts and souls are firmly implanted on that Iowa farm, even when they are not there, as some of them branch out to California, Guyana, New York, even Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey!  My God, who would think Jane Smiley would have heard of the last?

                                          This is one of the most satisfying reads I have had in awhile, and when a beloved character passes, I had to pause, to let the sorrow I felt pass.  This is because Smiley's skill as a writer not only makes the reader care, but the scope and focus she maintains is remarkable.  This has enough characters for a novel twice its length, and yet every single one emerges individualized. That is part of Jane Smiley's gift.

                                            I cannot wait for the final installment of the trilogy.  For those of the Baby Boomer Generation, this is the novel in the trilogy above all to read.  And for those who adore "A Thousand Acres," this chronicle is definitely deep in that territory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             I am not sure what the title means. I have a feeling the answer will lie in the coming volume!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             Keep writing, Jane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!