Once Upon a While

Well, I was excited to get one of my two copies of Once Upon a While the other day. I've already completed a quick read-through, and took copious notes of things that stood out, including a few probably unintentional typos:

Page 8: "Smug sense if satisfaction..." should be "...of satisfaction..."
Page 16: "cardamom" is spelled wrong ("cardamon")
Page 151: "desert" should be "dessert"

Anyway, despite those couple little things, the book was pretty darn delightful. I honestly didn't know what to expect from a book of Forrest's Scrapbooks, containing things I've already read countless times on Dal's blog. Forrest had said it wasn't "his" book, so I wondered if the same care and attention to quality would be put into this one as was in his previous books.

I was pleasantly surprised, because everything about this pretty little book whispers "quality." And gives a snicker or three of fun on the side.

Speaking of "3," this third memoir of Forrest Fenn is chock full of 'em. I counted the exact number "3" or "three," twenty-six times. And that's not counting the nearly 5,000 uses of the word "few."

I counted the number "30" about twelve times, but I may have missed a few because I was tired after counting all the "3's."

At the booksigning, Douglas Preston blurted out that there are "clues" in this book. Immediately, a collective gasp splattered across the chase world. Speculation zinged across the Internet faster than Odin's fastest thunderbolt about whether Doug knew the difference between a hint and a clue, and WHAT ARE THOSE CLUES? And how does Douglas Preston KNOW there are clues unless Forrest TOLD him there were clues?

Well, I believe there ARE clues in this memoir. Heck, just the word "memoir" is a clue. And heck, "heck" might be a clue, too (I noticed that word was used twice).

One thing I notice ever more after reading this memoir is that there're some things Forrest really likes to say. I'm not sure how many of you all notice, but I'm sure there are more like me that pick up on  subtleties and notice patterns--even some that might not really be there. :)

The usual themes are present in force in the book--one's trash is another's treasure, things "dressed" as something else, a lot of things are right and left, home as a warm, almost sacred, space, and "America." I also noticed other words--fortune (or versions thereof), proud (ego), pockets and pepper, as well as a few others--make frequent guest appearances on the pages.

I posted more on these and other themes in a couple threads on ChaseChat, so check those out over there.

Once Upon a While is a surprisingly violent book. Yes, violent! In some instances, you have to read between the lines just a little, but you're gonna read about a lot of explosions. In fact, on the table of contents page, there's an urgent direction to "see page 46!" The word "POW!" and bodies flying willy nilly are depicted in doodle-fashion, which lightens the blow--a little. Thinking about the picture of a "blown up" Skippy too much is an invitation to some deeper thought that you might not wanna think about too much, if you know what I mean.

Page 46 depicts a picture of Skippy we've seen before against a background of what looks like someone that took an almost burnt up, smoldering log and slammed it in the air over the page.

I was really happy to see Renelle's story included in the book. I didn't know Renelle (I had taken a break from searching when she discovered the chase), but I felt like I did just by seeing her smiling face on the full color page. Her story still stirs some deep emotion in me and summons a few tears from my eyes. She is one person I'm sad not to have known personally and her courage reminds me how important determination is, and how giving up can never be an option.

And I was pretty sure the spice story would return for an encore. By the way, here's where we keep our spices:

I know, you guys were just dying to see my spices. I'm happy to oblige.

And here's the original cover of Captain America #109, in case you were wondering:

Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick review and hearty recommendation for Once Upon a While. It's definitely worth reading, and it may just help you connect those last few dots.

But now, I've gotta pick up Joe from Model UN!

Happy Thorsday!