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Logan's storm.


(Catahoula Bayou trilogy). Random House. 290p. c2002. 0-375-76067-9. $12.95. SA

This entertaining tale of courage and survival in the Louisiana Bayou (a sequel to Meely LaBauve) features Logan LaBauve, a down-on-his-luck local misfit mis·fit  
n.
1. Something of the wrong size or shape for its purpose.

2. One who is unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to be disturbingly different from others.
, trying to flee to Mississippi in his canoe. Struggling through a snake and alligator-infested swamp, and the ever-present enemies of hunger and thirst Hunger and Thirst (French original title La Soif et la faim) is one of the last plays by Eugène Ionesco. It was first published in French in 1966. The play has one act divided into four periods. , he and Chilly. his young black companion, have just rescued Logan's son Meely from a band of local thugs. The police are after Chilly, however, because he is black. Logan is scornful of "them law doggies," as he calls them, because of their racial prejudice. He reflects with characteristic humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was , "If them ole boys' brains were eggs. you could crack open a dozen of 'era and not get much to scramble."

Logan's adventures include encounters with a number of eccentric bayou characters, including the superstitious su·per·sti·tious  
adj.
1. Inclined to believe in superstition.

2. Of, characterized by, or proceeding from superstition.



su
 Miz DeeDee, the educated thief Professor Burl, and Lester Benoit, the braggart deputy sheriff. It is Annie Ancelet, however, who saves Logan from a band of marauding ma·raud  
v. ma·raud·ed, ma·raud·ing, ma·rauds

v.intr.
To rove and raid in search of plunder.

v.tr.
To raid or pillage for spoils.
 thieves, and who brings love once again to his grieving heart. The two must first survive Hurricane Belva, a killer storm that barrels up the coast and almost kills them and some local islanders Islanders may refer to:
  • New York Islanders, a ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York that plays on the National Hockey League (NHL).
  • Puerto Rico Islanders, a Puerto Rican soccer team in the USL First Division, that currently play their home games at Juan Ramon
 they try to rescue.

Logan narrates his own story with straightforward honesty and self-deprecating humor, confessing that "I been a drinkin' man and a sinner sin·ner  
n.
1. One that sins or does wrong; a transgressor.

2. A scamp.

Noun 1. sinner - a person who sins (without repenting)
evildoer
 ..." The reader knows, however, that Logan's fondness for the bottle stems from his grief over the death of his beloved wife and newborn child seven years earlier. He says. "When Elizabeth died, I fell like the moon yanked from the sky and thrown down into a dark, dark field."

His story proves that there is no difference between rich and poor, literate and unlettered, in the way a man experiences the primary emotions of love, grief, and fear. Logan remains to the end a humble, self-effacing man. His courage and compassion are uncomplicated by feelings of envy or self-pity, and win him quick redemption for the "sins" he so readily confesses. The first-person narration provides the reader with an inside tour of the colorful bayou environment, and a rare insight into the wonders of the human heart. Phyllis LaMontagne, Spencer, MA
COPYRIGHT 2003 Kliatt
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2003, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Author:LaMontagne, Phyllis
Publication:Kliatt
Article Type:Brief Article
Date:Nov 1, 2003
Words:369
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