Everyone has at least one book in them

And that is their life story

"The Little Red Suitcase" is Richie Colbeth's story. Richie is a Grant County resident. Like me, he is an old guy and, like many old guys in Grant County, he is a bit of a character. I know him personally, not very well, but enough to say hi to and I can honestly say that the book is a fair reflection of the man.

In this new modern age,

Everyone is a publisher

Publishers used to be gatekeepers and an aspiring author had to persuade a publishing house and often an agent that their work was worth printing. Now in the new modern age, thanks to amazon and other publish-on-demand services, anyone can publish anything just because they can. This can be good in that everyone has a chance to be heard. It can be bad in that what some people have to say is incoherent and incompetently presented. In this case Richie's book had professional help and it shows. The text has been proof read and well laid out, the binding is sound and the cover is attractive.

Life stories

Are good stories

I find biographies more interesting that fiction. First, memoirs are (usually) true. The majority of popular fiction is impossible nonsense full of people doing and saying things that no real human being could ever do. A memoir is someone's version of what happened. Even if it is not strictly true, it is what the teller believes to be true. Second, memoirs are more original than most fiction. Most people, writers included, do not have much imagination. When confronted with a blank sheet of paper, the best they can do is a rehash of the last story they liked with a couple of names changed and most of the time one can guess what is coming next. In real life we never know what is coming next and often it is something that is completely unexpected.

And some life stories

Are wilder than others

Richie's story is dramatic, especially the beginnings. It has a compelling arc from desperate beginnings to eventual redemption. The book is short using just over 140 pages to cover 80 plus years. Much of it is snippets a page or two in length covering some episode and then jumping years and miles away for the next scene. A lot is left out and some parts would be better if told at greater length with more detail. But this is Richie's story and this is the way he tells it.

Not great literature,

But not bad either.

All in all, an interesting story well told. Probably its worst flaw is its brevity, I think it could have been expanded quite a bit. That being said, like most old guys he does repeat himself particularly towards the end of the book. Available new on Amazon for $13.95 and I have a used copy at the bookstore for $10.