Over the course of about four weeks three different friends recommended three different Barbara Kingsolver books to me. First up was a recommendation by a fellow librarian - Demon Copperhead. She not only suggested I read it, but also expressed a desire to get together over Zoom so we can discuss it. I've finished by book, discussion is pending.
Based on Charles Dickens' David Copperfield (which I have not read) Kingsolver's book takes the reader into a world of poverty, foster care, hunger, and drug abuse. Nevertheless, throughout the despair libraries bring hope. Young Damon (aka Demon) longs to see the ocean. He has seen pictures and a "hypnotizing screen saver of waves rearing up and spilling over on a library computer". Fellow foster Tommy Waddles was "the type to make the best of things, mostly by reading library books and ignoring the fact of people hating him". Years later when Demon and Tommy meet up again Demon discovers that Tommy's understanding of pop culture is slim - Tommy having "squandered his youth on library books and had zero experience with cable TV."
As a recovering addict Demon recognizes that living in a city, even if you're poor, has some benefits including having a library within walking distance of his halfway house. He describes the "Halley Library branch on the north end of Knoxville" as "the other half of [his] halfway life". It was here that he met Lyra a "hot librarian" (is there any other kind?) "...with a full sleeve tattoo representing the book of Moby Dick". Lyra, however was not just another pretty face and sexy body, she taught Demon how to use the library's scanner and "rocked [his] marbles" by "turning [him] on to the adult comics and graphic novels section of library".
