{"product_id":"a-gift-of-maple-syrup-eric-selby-9781440173509","title":"A Gift of Maple Syrup and Other Stories","description":"By chance, Olivia Spenser-Graf and Sadie Hunt turned onto Route 33, thinking the autumn foliage too spectacular to bypass. A year later bibliophile Olivia would be telling customers that it had been their Robert Frost moment, \"except ours was the road taken that brought us here.\" \u003cp\u003e Only a few miles up that road they pulled into a weedy parking area, drawn to the boarded-up one-room schoolhouse that, within a year, would be renovated and opened as Stacks and Snacks, a bookshop and natural foods eatery.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In eighteen stories, some touching, some raucous, Eric Selby examines redemption, grace, family, and community dysfunction through the lives of small-town people living in Gilead County, Vermont. His unforgettable characters include a beloved old-time barber, a cast of frustrated teachers and students, a family whose farm has to be sold, religious nuts, a retired out-of-state couple with long-held hostilities, and a hymn-singing child who confuses hosanna with Obama.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e As people in the county grapple with their problems, Sadie and Olivia find themselves woven into most of their lives. \u003ci\u003eA Gift of Maple Syrup and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e offers insights into the human condition. These stories celebrate the endurance of the human spirit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Eric Selby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1440173508\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781440173509\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e iUniverse\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/29\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 220\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eric Selby","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48088280563967,"sku":"9781440173509","price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a972aae1-f8ae-40b1-87e4-880758f19061.jpg?v=1769104035","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-gift-of-maple-syrup-eric-selby-9781440173509","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}