CS 36.2: In the Neighborhood
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010CLERC SCAR 36.2
5 May 2010
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IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Mary J. Thornley
Words: 803
[Book Review]
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time
By Peter Lovenheim
Perigee, 238 pp. $25.95.
The book IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD by Peter Lovenheim intrigued me because the blurb on the back cover said the author’s concept was “deeply radical. If we all took its lessons to heart our world would be a better place.” This comment was made by Andrea Barrett, an award-winning author.
Peter Lovenheim had done planned “sleep-overs” with neighbors: “All we need to do is deliberately set out to know the person next door, or across the street, or down the block; to ring the bell and open the door.” Lovenheim demonstrated how close neighborhood connections can reduce crime, and alleviate depression and isolation. He pointed out that American neighborhoods used to have shared spaces, front porches, and other design features that encouraged community interaction. But community design changed, resulting in homes that discouraged interaction. He discussed a murder that had occurred in his neighborhood; a man had shot his wife. Lovenheim’s exploration of this event demonstrated that, had the wife known her neighbors better, she and the two children would not have been so isolated that night and the shooting might not have occurred.
The author lives in Rochester, New York, reportedly one of the most deaf-friendly cities. Also, he teaches writing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the home of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
Surely, Lovenheim would include deaf residents in his plan for increased neighborliness, I thought.
I checked out the book, and read it. The opening pages were fascinating in a low-key way. He described how he’d arrived at the idea of writing a book on neighborliness. He began to describe people in his area and how he began to make moves to become acquainted with them. I was breathless with anticipation.
Then on page 83 I found this: “To me, as a child . . . my family’s next door neighbors–seemed unfriendly, even scary. They had a blind dog, a deaf housekeeper, and they might all have been mute, as far as I was concerned . . . Retrieving a basketball from their front yard was only a little less frightening than running up to touch Boo Radley’s front porch.”
Boo Radley is a character in the book TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee. The story is told from the viewpoint of two children, Jem and Scout. Boo Radley is a recluse who is never seen in public. The two children frighten themselves with fantasies about him, and dare one another to dash across the lawn and touch his front porch.
I kept reading, hoping Lovenheim would demonstrate having overcome this initial prejudice. I hoped he’d get a news flash: “My gosh, communities have deaf people! And those deaf people are not just ‘mutes’! They are not Boo Radleys! They are living, breathing people who write books, act in plays, travel the world, and help others!”
But this never happened.
In my neighborhood, I see people walking dogs that are minus a leg or with hip weakness. I don’t remember ever being frightened of a blind dog or a deaf housekeeper. Years ago I lived in an apartment building where a deaf cleaning woman worked. I’m sure there is someone in my neighborhood that has a deaf cat although I’ve never made inquiries.
But none of this scares me–or makes me think of Boo Radley.
In my neighborhood, there are deaf people, and blind, and there are homeless veterans minus legs. Not one of them is a Boo Radley. Some travel. Some beg. So what? They are neighbors.
Lovenheim does reveal the joys, accomplishments, and sorrows of his neighbors. Just not any deaf or blind ones. Only “normal” ones.
Lovenheim doesn’t seem to consider how this might affect his readers–or that his readers might be deaf or blind (although he lives and teaches in Rochester). He writes like we all understand what he means–that house over there is scary because there’s blind dog, a deaf housekeeper, and God knows what else. You best stay away.
What is the point in writing about neighborliness if one cannot be neighborly to all?
Fortunately, I don’t live in Lovenheim’s neighborhood. If I did, I might be wondering, having read his book, if that’s Lovenheim shuffling past my home just now, eyeing it with some atavistic Boo Radley fear, then deciding I’m too Boo Radleyish.
Maybe I’d daub on a ghostly get-up like Boo Radley, who never saw the light of day for many years, and leap out at Lovenheim when he’s on his way to his latest sleepover–and scare the living daylights out of him.
It would be the neighborly thing to do, and might make the world a better place.
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Mary J. Thornley is a Deaf writer and graduate student at Georgetown University.
A “standard” review of this book can be found at http://su.pr/4YzWSQ . This review was written by Jennifer Howard who is a senior reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education. She doesn’t mention the Boo Radley comment.
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Copyright 2010 by Clerc Scar. All rights reserved.Visit our archives or bookstore at http://www.clercscar.com
Copyright 2010 by Clerc Scar. All rights reserved.
