Simple Gifts - Softcover

YA The Fleuris are poor. Their Colorado ranch has few modern improvements, and the family income is subsidized by selling illegal moonshine and deer out of season. Then Ralph Kelvin appears, representing a government agency called SCELPthe Social, Cultural and Ethnic Life Placement Program of the Department of the Interior. Mr. Kelvin thinks the Fleuri home is an ideal setting for an 1880s-type ranchan ethnic vacation for world-weary professionals who want authenticity and a change from modern times. Daddy Fleuri is dead set against it (with a countryman's innate fear of government meddling), but the rest of the family wants to take a chance. Daddy finally gives in, and the few modern signs of the 1980s disappear as the Fleuris resort to using the tools of their ancestors. The visitors come, and while they work the land, they also cause changes in various members of the family. Greenberg tells this story in viewpoint chapters, using the Fleuris and their guests to move the narrative along. The result is a rich blend of humor, pathos, history, and insight that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. Diana Hirsch, PGCMLS, Md.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Fleuri ranch on Colorado's Croom Mountain resembles a scene from the 1880s, save for a few modern conveniences such as a tractor, a refrigerator, and a water pump. Life for the Fleuris, who supplement their meager income with moonshine and illegal game, hasn't changed much either. When a government agent persuades them to turn the ranch into a model 1880s homestead for paying visitors, it seems a perfect solution to their plight, until the deed is done. Greenberg deals realistically with the impact of government regulation, social and cultural change, and affluence on a backwoods family, while treating family members with the tenderness, humor, and dignity that each so richly deserves. Recommended. Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.