The Situation in Flushing

by Edmund G. Love

Book Overview

In a nostalgic, yet nimble telling of his boyhood in Flushing, Michigan, Edmund Love notes that he was born into a world that ceased to exist almost as soon as he entered it. "In the first twelve years of my life," he writes, "rural America was swept away as though it has been a picture on a blackboard that had suddenly been erased."

The Situation in Flushing is a humorous portrait of a place and people that have vanished from the American...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814319173
• ISBN13: 9780814319178
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Classic Memoir of Childhood

I read "The Situation in Flushing" in the 1960s, and have recalled it ever since as one of the funniest books I've ever read -- full of deft, hilarious descriptions of the quirks and foibles and activities of eccentric characters who populated the Flushing of Ed Love's childhood. I liked the book so much that I had to drive up to Flushing (from my home in Ann Arbor) and have a look around. Alas, the Flushing of the 1960s did not seem nearly as interesting as the Flushing Ed Love knew. I had lunch, and headed back home. Later, I read a couple more of Ed Love's books, including the one in which he describes his struggles to get through the University of Michigan, during the Great Depression.

Growing up in Flushing Michigan

This book caught my attention due to the fact that I now live in Flushing. The book was enjoyable becuase some of the sights that are discussed still do exist and it was interesting to me to read about what they used to be like. I only know about what goes on today, but it would have been very interesting to be living in the time period that Edmund Love writes about. A good book about a small town and the way of life in the past. My son's 5th grade class read this book and he comes home and tells of landmarks that they read about that the kids still know exist. A very enjoyable book.

A boy's perspective reminds an adult...

...what it was like to be a child growing up in Michigan, although I came along later in the late 1950's. What a great story about early day Flushing, Michigan, a town not far away from my home town of Owosso. In fact, the book mentions Owosso once, but the experiences that Edmund Love writes about are far and above those of an ordinary child. Edmund G. Love is a talented story teller and with this novel he is sure to keep you captivated throughout. This book was recommended to me by my father's late cousin, Bobbie Whitbeck (1916-2004) of Battle Creek, Michigan, for she was the person who opened up our family's past to me in great detail. Inter-twining one generation to the next through stories and her memories, she opened up my connection to our family's heritage. I began to ask questions about life in the early 1900's in Michigan, and she recommended this book as the best description of growing up in the area and that era. She was right on. I'm also reading "Subways are for Sleeping," another book by this same author, and what a great perspective on the homeless culture of our America. Thank you Edmund. I've been through "The Situation in Flushing" twice now, and am reading it a third time, this time to my 8 year-old son for great bedtime reading.

The Situation in Flushing

A wonderful book which can be read by children and adults alike. It is a timeless piece and a true story about a young lad growing up in the hearts of every one of us. The author, reminiscing his own childhood causes each of us to do the same. I have been to Flushing myself and found this story to be authentic and as the author described. If you grew up with steam locomotives, you'll love this book.

Enjoyable tale of growing up in small town Michigan

This book was published in the 1960s and was a big event in my family since it featured a few pages that described my grandfather, who had lived in Flushing at the time of the story. My family was very distressed as it described my grandfather in a somewhat unflattering light, or at least in one that was inconsistent with family consensus. I am in posession of copies of some correspondence between my father, my aunt, and the author. The book sat in my parents' house in Imlay City until the time of my mother's death in the mid-1990s. The book came into my posession at that time and I read it shortly thereafter. I loved the story, the local flavor, the images of a small town Michigan that I had not experienced but had been given hints of all of my life. I don't know if the characterization of my grandfather was correct, and I frankly do not care. This was a great experience and I am sorry that Eddie Love didn't right more about growing up in Flushing