The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole

As a child you pity him- he is sort of thrust into the background of his very large family and terrorised by his older sisters, in particular the monstrous Jackie. After nine girls, by the time a boy actually came along it seems like his parents were pretty indifferent to any more children, including a much longed-for son, so you have to feel somewhat sorry for him. Spud spends much of his time trying to fade into the background, whether by a conscious or unconscious action and on the one occasion where he really does try to shine, he is treated unfairly, so it is no wonder he is such a bitter individual from time to time and does not really like to try and better himself.

Such continual knock-backs will undoubtedly resonate with a lot of people out there; you question yourself as to what is ultimately the point. It is only as you get to understand him and his circumstances, including the situation with his parents, that you comprehend exactly why he pushes himself in the way that he does and why he is such an idealist. Robert genuinely does want to make the best of every situation and also improve Cedar Hole, no matter what the detriment to himself.

His optimism may be annoying and I can see why he rubbed people up in the wrong way, but I truly do think there was no malice in him whatsoever. Deep down, I think he may have even envied Spud for his close friendships and large family. The secondary characters were pretty well done, too- from the stereotypical bumbling cop to the prim librarian and a lot of mean-spirited, nosy individuals thrown in for good measure.

I like how the author talked about the same people most of the way through the book- by that time you knew who was who and saw how they had grown as people and recognised the nature of their intertwining relationships. Bernie is the sort of bitter, spiteful person you actually want to reach into the book and shake some common sense into! I loved all of its nods to a more old-fashioned, sedate America- such as dates at the soda fountain, lawnmower rodeo and sarsaparilla. This charming, poignant story of hopes, dreams and small town life was wonderfully written and offered the perfect escapist reading outlet for me at a time when I really needed it- and also offered a valuable message at its ending and some interesting life lessons.

Though this author is better known for her young adult series, I would certainly welcome reading more books by her aimed at older readers in future. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Now gather all of those people in a small town, add their individual struggles--from the day they were born and follow through their adulthood. See how some people don't change at all, and note the effects of what childhood memories can bring.

The Greatest Man of Cedar Hole will tell you all of these stories in such a witty manner. Occasionally it's hard not to feel so annoyed with the characters and events.

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But that's how it is in a small town where everyone knows everyone. I love how Stephanie Doyon created the characters in this book.

Review: The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole; Stephanie Doyon | my good bookshelf

They may sound like typical, normal people but that makes this book so interesting. The ending was a bit disappointing even though I understand that the story seems to be like real life--you can't just wrap it all up and give a definitive ending while the characters are still young and alive, but it shows as if none of them have actually gained anything at all. And since I did not expect how the ending turned out to be, I must say that despite the disappointment, I actually enjoyed the story and the message it carries. Please read this book if you have the chance.

I love it more than some other bestsellers out there. May 17, Jack rated it it was ok.

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole

This first "adult" novel by former young adult writer Stephanie Doton had a lot of promise. Interestingly enough the two lead characters start out the book as fourth graders and the story looks at their parallel lives in small town Cedar Hole. Unfortunately the book just ends without much fanfare.

It seems like the author as strung together a bunch or good plot line ideas but then leaves us hanging. The ending is "huh? I also This first "adult" novel by former young adult writer Stephanie Doton had a lot of promise. I also thought that one of the main characters died way too early. I was thinking that here was where the big payoff was coming. Looking back on it in the light of day, it was a bit depressing I finished it at 1: None of the character's dreams, ambitions, or relationships are ever fulfilled or if so, not for long!

But I still can't help that there is a great novel here that was never realized. Aug 24, Claire O'Brien rated it liked it.

I was not surprised to learn that Richard Russo is a mentor to this author, as her style is so similar and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of his. The characters are incredibly well drawn and developed. I loved the first half when the boys were kids and teenagers, and the bit with the mailbox just broke my heart.

Doyon, Stephanie. The greatest man in Cedar Hole.

I wish she'd ended it there though, as the latter section with the boys as adults is just not nearly as good. It doesn't ruin the book, it would have just been better without it. One would probably call this a "coming of age" novel, as the two main characters are followed from boyhood to adulthood. Life in a small town, with all its ups and downs! That pretty much sums up the plot A very enjoyable read!

Oct 11, Book2Dragon rated it it was amazing. Knew nothing of this book or author, but picked it up at a book sale and finally after a year or more picked it up to read. I have shelves full of books waiting patiently to be read, and thought it was time to read the unread. I loved this book. Good writer, interesting tale, and characters you feel about. Oct 16, janetandjohn rated it really liked it. A new boy in town, a town of not much. And at school there is a golden haired boy, a boy who can answer all the questions, play good games, and he will be the Greatest Man in Cedar Hole.

But you have to grow up and do stuff - and this is the story of 20 years, the two boys and their families. That's all - but such a wonderful read. Feb 23, Lauren rated it really liked it Shelves: Dug review out of the depths of LiveJournal. Wry and clever and handles its subjects well. Doyon also knows when it better suits a book to remove a character rather than stifle the rest of the narrative. May 24, Tom McDade rated it it was amazing Shelves: May 07, Caroline Bartels rated it liked it. I'm often drawn to books about small town life, probably because I pine for the community that existed when I was younger where, for better or worse, everyone knew everything about everybody.

Cedar Hole is such a town, isolated by geography and their own insular interests, it is place where people are born and die. As the youngest of nine children, and the only boy, Franci I'm often drawn to books about small town life, probably because I pine for the community that existed when I was younger where, for better or worse, everyone knew everything about everybody. As the youngest of nine children, and the only boy, Francis is already bowed by the expectations of the community. The wild reputation of his sisters precedes him and he is treated according to their behaviour.

As an only child of a reclusive mother and quiet father, Robert J Cutler escapes the preconceptions of the town and his individual personality, very different to that of his classmates, is encouraged. While Robert is oblivious to the inequality, Francis is both baffled by, and envious of, Robert's optimistic nature and the advantages that are afforded him. Doyen follows the lives of these two boys through their childhood and into adulthood, and it's a fascinating character study of two men who are born of, and remain in, similar circumstances whose lives take different paths.

It is also partly an examination of the nature versus nurture debate, how much of who we are and what we do is innate behaviour, and what effect does expectation have on the choices we make. As with many small town novels there are a number of supporting characters that never the less have their own distinct personalities, from the disgruntled school teacher who drinks too much to the Sheriff who is woefully unprepared for anything involving real police work.

The town of Cedar Hole is almost a character in it's own right, with it's tiny stores, unpaved roads and abandoned rail way tracks. The pace of the novel is slow, very little happens in Cedar Hole, but it is a place you visit for the people not the scenery. I kept turning the pages because I wanted to know how the lives of Robert and Francis would turn out, and who, when all was said and done, the greatest man in Cedar Hole.

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole is a story of ordinary people doing their best in an ordinary town. Wry, entertaining and bittersweet, this is a novel of growing up and growing old. Wow, I really liked this book. So much so that if I ever find it in a book sale I will pick it up no questions asked. The book takes place in Cedar Hole, a small town where everyone knows each other and no one is expected to make much of themselves. It starts off with a fourth grade classroom.

The teacher, who for some reason the name escapes me right now, is a rude woman who obviously doesn't like teaching. She goes down the row of students, picking out which ones will be failures all of them Wow, I really liked this book. She goes down the row of students, picking out which ones will be failures all of them , and speaking with new students, trying to figure out all their stories. Then she meets Robert J. Cutler, assuming he is a new student. He's lived in the town all his life. Which, looking at how clean he looks and how bright eyed and bushy tailed he is, it seems wrong somehow.

About The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole

Next she runs into Francis "Spud" Pinkham and knows automatically that he will be trouble. The book flips between Robert's life and Spud's, showing how they all intersect. You occasionally get the point of view of other people in the town, the teacher for instance, and the librarian, Kitty that Robert befriends, and Robert's wife and daughter. The book spans throughout their lives, from fourth grade to being teenagers to becoming adults and having families of their own.

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Spud feels that he must always compete with Robert, until of course the man dies. But even then he sometimes feels that he must compete with the man. In the end, Spud is a good man with a loving family, and though his water selling business may not have panned out, well, they'll figure things out, won't they? I really enjoyed hearing about Spud's childhood. His father wanted a boy so badly that they tried 10 times. Spud had 9 older sisters that may have well be boys, none of which married, at least one being a lesbian.

Poor Spud was tortured by his older sisters as a kid, and even earned his nickname thanks to them. When they all lived under one roof, he had to sleep in the pantry. One day one of his sisters had to get some potatoes, and she left them sitting precariously on a shelf. Throughout the night the potatoes moved, all landing on a sleeping Francis "Spud". There may have been what people called "no point" to the book, but it was sweet. I really enjoyed it. I hope to find the book soon so I can have my own copy. Dec 11, Bronwyn Rykiert rated it really liked it Shelves: This was an interesting enough story.

I ask a question who was the greatest man in Cedar Hole was it Robert or Francis? Neither of them seem great to me and I was rather disappointed when Robert died at such a young age, really before he had a chance to become the greatest man anywhere, except maybe for Kitty the librarian. Robert certainly was not the greatest man for his wife who was a very strange person anyway. Maybe it was because he was always happy which was a feat considering his home lif This was an interesting enough story.

Maybe it was because he was always happy which was a feat considering his home life with a father who was never home and who drank too much and a mother who would not lift a finger to do anything and who would not get out bed even? Francis on the other hand seemed to have a reasonable relationship with his wife Anita and his boys seemed rather fine. Poor Francis needs points just for surviving his childhood with all his sisters who seemed to be all tomboys. It was a different story and I did enjoy listening to it. Nov 19, S. A gentle satire of people in a fictional small, nondescript American town named Cedar Hole.

Once you are there it is next to impossible to leave, and those who try to better themselves or their surroundings are put down by everyone else. Around the town are better, more prosperous places, but the people in Cedar Hole are discouraged by general apathy from improving their own lot.

Kind of like real life - how easy it is to avoid taking risks, to criticize from the vantage point of one's own threa A gentle satire of people in a fictional small, nondescript American town named Cedar Hole. Kind of like real life - how easy it is to avoid taking risks, to criticize from the vantage point of one's own threadbare comfy chair, to be judgemental, to say "I told you so" or "I knew it! I've owned this for some time but never really got into it then I picked it up cheap on my Kindle and following my kindle rule read it through.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. A perfect description of small town America. Small town anywhere in fact. How rumours spread, how assumptions are made, how reputations are acquired whether or not they are earned and the judgements that are dished out when there is nothing to talk about other than your neighbours and all outsiders are mistrusted. Yet it is at the I've owned this for some time but never really got into it then I picked it up cheap on my Kindle and following my kindle rule read it through.

Yet it is at the same time kind of optimistic. There is a sense in which being content and taking things as they come is rewarded. Spud does okay, he is faithful, good with his family, he rises above things without really trying simply by being true to himself. Altogether well worth the effort. Feb 05, Bookmarks Magazine added it. The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole is never unbelievable, although one critic thought that its ending was p An author and ghostwriter of novels for teenagers makes her well-received adult fiction debut with an immensely entertaining, superbly written tale that is difficult to categorize.

Dec 03, Pat rated it did not like it Shelves: As it is, I overpaid. Someone should pay you LOTs to endure this book. If this is small town America, then kill me now! The characters range from vicious, violent and stupid to downright passive and pathetic. And that's just one sister and brother. The lazy teacher, leering butcher, neglectful parents en masse, not just one family!

A mean-spirited depiction of a town you'd never want to live in and people you'd never want to meet. I can't believe I read the whole thing. What a waste of eyepower. The best thing about it is the cover art and the front flap. May 18, D. Cairns rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Fascinating idea to tell the story of a character through the eyes of others during his life and especially after his death. I wasn't sure at times if the author wanted me to believe that Spud Pinkham was actually the greatest man and not Robert J.

Didn't like the ending although it seemed fitting for the type of person Spud was and the kind of life he had lived. Some of the satellite characters were interesting. Despite nothing much happening in the story, it still held my interest, mai Fascinating idea to tell the story of a character through the eyes of others during his life and especially after his death.

Despite nothing much happening in the story, it still held my interest, mainly because I was interested in Spud's fate. I didn't like Robert and its funny to think of how such a "good" person can annoy people, even disgust them. Well worth a read, this one.

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