Picked up at the rummage sale at the congregational church in winnetka yesterday.

6/13 Update: Terrific book, loved the pace, and the absurdity of some of it. Just think what the world would be like if our identities were tied up to the point where our last name was that of our employer! This book is going to my sister. I would really love to see a sequel starring Jennifer Government.

RELEASE NOTES:

Gave to my sister.

This book was a lot of fun, strange, but fun. I hope to leave it in Union Station (Chicago) tomorrow morning.

Found while traveling from Seattle, WA to Holland, MI on May 9, 2006. Two-thirds of the way through a trip that involved transport by car, plane, light rail and feet, I was waiting to catch Amtrak for the last leg of my journey and found this book resting precariously on the rim of a garbage can in Chicago's Union Station (near gate F of the South Concourse). I initially noticed it because two young Amish men, members of a large Amish family ahead of me in the queue, took turns reading the back cover before returning it to the top of the garbage can. One of the young men teased the other - encouraging him to take the book. His efforts were to no avail; the other young man laughed shyly and reddened slightly, but turned away from the book. Are Amish people are prohibited from reading certain books by their social/religious rules?

The line inched forward and I found myself in reach of this book and next to a man attempting to wheel three large suitcases with one hand occupied with a large Jamba Juice. I couldn't resist picking up the book to read the back cover, but like the young men in front of me (and the countless others who passed by in the bustle of rush-hour commuter traffic), I set it down again. I'm a lover of books, but it wasn't the kind that I would normally read, and I just couldn't take someone else’s book. What if whomever it belonged to came back for it? The three-suitcase man noticed my perusal of the book and, after a brief, friendly debate, convinced me to pick it up.

Boarding for the train was announced shortly and I offered to help three-suitcase man with his third suitcase. We parted onboard with farewells and, after settling in for the ride, I opened the book and found the bookcrossing.com label - and was relieved to have not stolen someone's book.

I finished the book over the next couple of evenings and was pleasantly surprised by the writing and content. It was both entertaining and thought provoking and not as far-fetched as I had originally surmised.

I'm not yet sure where it will go next...