Perry L. Crandall would like you to know that he is not retarded. Retarded would be 75 on an IQ test, and he is 76. Besides, Perry takes care not only of himself, but also of his Gran, a crusty, no-nonsense woman who loves him for who he is and lets him shine his light through his own accomplishments. (She tells him the L in his name stands for Lucky.)Perry describes his life in simple and succinct sentences that manage to be full of wonder and surprise. As he speaks, we see all too clearly the many ways in which his nuclear family has failed him, but Perry never sees it that way. His glass is always half full. Shoot, his glass is three-quarters full--it only looks half-full to those of us too blind to see things the Perry Crandall way. And it's this innocence and optimism that makes his family betrayals all the more heartbreaking to the reader. We want to crawl into the book and protect Perry from the vultures, especially when he faces the biggest tragedy of his life.But Perry insists he doesn't need protecting, and he proceeds to prove it us and to the three remaining people who care the most about him: Gary, the owner of Holsted's Marine Supply who has employed Perry since he was sixteen years old; Keith, Perry's heavy, flatulent, potty-mouthed co-worker; and Cherry a young, tattooed and pierced cashier at the local Marina Handy Mart.When Perry wins the Washington state lottery we learn just who his real friends (and real family) are. His mostly estranged cousin-brothers come knocking, strangers arrive on his doorstep...and we hope--oh how we hope--that Perry can learn to distinguish the friends from the leeches.There is so much to love about this big-hearted first novel. The characters are rich and real and alive. Perry's voice is fresh, authentic, consistent, and homespun-philosopher-wise...and then, there's the ending. Oh, the ending! The ending is so unexpectedly perfect and poignant and satisfying. I keep trying not to write, "Keep a box of tissues handy," but, well, keep a box of tissues handy. You'll need them. But--to use another cliche--you'll be smiling through your tears.
Throughout the first quarter or so of the book, I thought it was going to be just another lightweight, insipid story about the triumph of the underdog. Well, it is kind of about the triumph of the underdog. It is about the triumph of the human spirit. And it really is about what really constitutes intelligence. And how great a part does our intelligence play in making us the best humans we can be. I was worried that it would just be another "don't judge a book by it's cover" parable. And in a sense it was. But it was also about whether or not someone with limited intelligence can, nonetheless, possess great wisdom. Okay, enough with that crap. The point is, that once my ears stopped burning from the nearly constant swearing in the first few chapters and frequent swearing throughout, I fell in love. (The swearing did seem pointlessly overdone, IMHO.) I fell in love with Perry for his open heart and mind. I fell in love with his Gram for teaching him the things he REALLY needed to know to survive in a world that would not be kind to him. And I fell in love with Keith for being just like so many men I've known in my life who have made hard choices, sometimes wrong choices, who are almost never politically correct or even socially acceptable but who have the best hearts in the world. I wavered between giving this book 3 or 4 stars because it is a bit lightweight and it is a bit simplistic. I gave it 4 because this month, with all the stress of the holidays and other things in my life, I really, really needed to meet Perry and his Gram and Keith and Gary and Cherry. I needed to read something where good just simply comes out on top. I needed an excuse to laugh and cry within minutes. I think there is probably a time in everyone's life when they need that.
Do You like book Lottery (2007)?
This is a beautiful, heart-warming book about a guileless young man and the relationships between him and his family & friends. He was raised by his Gram, who instilled within him common sense, confidence and a healthy dose of questioning others. He was blessed to also have several close friends, who look after him. Perry is "slow" but he is quick to point out that he is not retarded because his IQ is 76. The author's writing puts the reader into the mind of Perry and makes him a very real person, who experiences joy, sadness, love as everyone does. But he displays bits of wisdom that all of us can take heed of. You will alternately worry about him, become angry at those who take advantage of him. I loved the ending. I hope that Patricia Wood writes more books, as this one was so good.
—Judy
Perry is such a likable character, right from the beginning. There is so much to like about him: the way he studies several words from the dictionary each day (one of his favorite words to use is "echt" - true, and it's fun to see how he uses what he's learning and how he inspires others in the story); how he remembers what his Gram has said and what she's taught him (it's neat how he knows her personality and can guess from past experiences how she might react or comment on something); how he views the world (he isn't bitter and doesn't hold a grudge or feel sorry for himself) and what he needs and what others need; and how his sense of humor inspires chuckles in the reader through the whole book, just to name a few good things. The secondary characters are well-drawn and help make the story even better; there is no all-good or all-bad in this story, but more of a general idea of "life is difficult" but "life goes on." I liked how Perry could enjoy the joys of life that many of us take for granted, and how he was proud of doing a good job (his response to his being a good businessman: "It's so cool!") - his innovative ideas made me smile. He liked to "tell it like it is," including when funny or rude things happened but he didn't talk about it out loud because it wouldn't be nice or it would hurt people's feelings.
—Dawn
This is part review and part commentary about the other reviews here. Many readers compare Lottery to Forest Gump. Besides the main characters having a low IQ in common, the stories are not similar at all. Forest Gump was purposely absurd and mocked Forest’s disability, while Lottery, in my opinion, tells a genuine and believable story in a way that is respectful to Perry’s shortcomings.At least one reader said “I freaking despise ‘Retard with a heart of gold’ stories” but read the book anyway and then proceeded to pan the book harshly. Generally speaking, for those who have strong feelings about the types of stories they don’t like to read, take this to heart…read the book jacket or the goodreads description or the review in the New York Times first. You should be able to gather enough information to gauge the likelihood it may be a book you definitely won’t like. If the likelihood is high, save yourself the agony and save the author from an unnecessary, meaningless beating.So, yes, if you like heart wrenching, relatively uplifting stories…ones that illustrate that every person has both good and bad qualities, neither of which correlate with intelligence…those that you don’t mind knowing ahead of time how it’s probably going to end but look to a talented author to suck you into the plot with every page…give this book a try. It’s difficult and not for everyone, but if you can embrace the premise *before* you crack the cover, you just may buy into it. I even surprised myself that I did so deeply.
—Susan
