LOTTERY by Patricia Wood
"My name is Perry L. Crandall and I am not retarded." A very straight forward opening line from a very straight forward 32 year old man. To be labelled officially retarded, apparently you have to have an IQ of 75. Lucky Perry has an IQ of 76. Although he may not be retarded, he is cognitively challenged or slow. He knows it, but as he is not officially retarded, no way is he going to let this minor issue stop him getting on with his life. Of course the vast majority of people that Perry has dealt with all his life are not aware of this one point difference, and basically classify and treat him as 'retarded'.
Essentially abandoned by his immediate family, he has been raised very lovingly and most wisely by his grandparents who taught him everything he needs to know. This boils down to: a very small list of people he can trust, spend half his pay and save half his pay, when in doubt of what to say become an auditor ie a listener, and the meaning of the word 'careful'. One of things he and his Gram did every week was buy a state lottery ticket. One day, not long after Gram's death, when life is turning into a bit of a struggle for Perry, he finds an old ticket, checks the numbers in his most meticulous way, and discovers he has won $12.0m. American dollars that is.
From that moment on, he has to call upon every single one of those lessons, sayings, and instructions for living that his grandparents gave him so as to manage the vultures that come circling - his brothers, their wives, his mother; the old school friends who were so mean and nasty to him as a child; the media; the financial advisors - everyone wants a a piece of him and his pie, especially his vile family.
It falls to Keith and Gary to help Perry steer through this quagmire, the pitfalls and the successes that come out of this win. At all times Perry keeps his head, trusting his instincts and constantly listening to his Gram's voice.
Much like the movie Forrest Gump, the story is narrated by Perry. We see the world, the people in it, their relationships with each other and with him through his very simplistic eyes. We know his family are a bunch of useless greedy ne'er do wells, and we ache for Perry to see it, which in his own slow way he does, just not as sharply and as quickly as we do. He sees his best friend and the girl of his dreams fall in love, but doesn't fully understand the intricacies of adult man/woman relationships. Yet they continue to love him, which makes everything all right. Because the reader knows what is going on this form of narration works very well. Although some may be offended at how Perry is portrayed - not retarded, but definitely slow.
Nevertheless this is a truly heartwarming, inspiring and easy read, perfect for a lie in the sun, or curling up in a front of a fire. Apparently the author's father won millions in the state lottery one year, so I imagine that has provided plenty of material for this story. We all wonder what we would do with such a win, it would be nice to think that we have friends such as Keith and Gary, and the wisdom to use the money wisely and well.
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