BOOKS/LIVRES, Le Forum, University of Maine, Orono
A reader’s appreciation of Charlie Gargiulo’s Legends of Little Canada by Louise Peloquin
Legends of Little Canada is a passionate love letter with a profound message on “human progress” and “the common good” and how these can be twisted to serve lowly purposes.
It’s a blast-from-the-past time travel into childhood and pre-adolescence, a prequel to Ti-Jean’s Maggie Cassidy.
It is a must-read for anyone who was born in Lowell, has lived in Lowell, has worked in Lowell or is curious about the mill town once dubbed “the Venice of America” which inspired visitor Charles Dickens.
The author shies away from labelling himself as a “professional writer.” But what, precisely, is that? Someone who fills a blank page with words enthusiastic and fresh enough to morph a slim volume into a page-turner has to have some writing skills. The text has all of the ingredients - fun, action, drama, suspense, human interest, violence, tragedy but, most of all, love. You will not find any spoliers here. You readers have to discover the other secret ingredients on yourown.
For years, colorful anecdotes about Little Canada thrilled those who were lucky enough to hear Charlie Gargiulo recount them in person. Transferred to the printed page, they make him a permanent story-teller and thus, a writer.
Those who enter into Legends of Little Canada get to hang out with Charlie’s gang where they will meet buddies and bullies, beloved family members and benevolent strangers, givers and crooks, educators and profiteers.The reader will also hear about reformersfull of dire intentions wrapped up in fake generosity and noble goals. These dealers of destruction end up being exposed as the real boogeymen in the tale. Like charlatans offering relief by pulling, one by one, teeth which could have been saved with a little care and repair, they choose to pull down homes, one by one, and turn a vibrant neighborhood into a painfully cavernous void.
On a lighter note, let’s not forget that younger readers will discover the meaning of loyalty as well as fun street games with neighborhood pals. Older readers will bask in a past that has never really disappeared in the collective consciousness. Whether or not the readers have shared Charlie Gargiulo’s experiences, they will find his prose refreshing, invigorating, rejuvenating, like a walk in a cold cloudburst on a dog day of summer.
A shout-out to Loom Press and its director Paul Marion for publishing this book. Its success will add to Lowell’s clout by casting a light on another facet of the city’s rich ethnic past. Reading Legends of Little Canada is not a honey-coated walk down memory lane. It is a memorial to those who have fashioned us. It is a legacy.
Reading Legends of Little Canada is like re-discovering a favorite Beatles song. Warmth wells up inside when you hear it. You can’t help but smile. You can’t help but cry either.