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I just got back from a Bob & Ruth's trip to Dominican Republic.  While I was there I was reading this terrific new book of short stories called "Like You'd Understand, Anyway."

The gimmick of the book is that all the stories take place at important moments in history, but the stories are all about the relationships that the main characters have with their fathers, rather than about the great moment in history.

So I'm reading this short story about an ancient Roman clerk who is stationed at Hadrian's Wall (built in the far north of England by the emperor Hadrian to keep the Scots from invading Britain).  The clerk is the son of a Roman warrior, but the son is this scrawny guy who spends all his time on the toilet or just wracked with horrible digestive pain.  I noticed that every time food was mentioned in the story, the author mentioned wheat, barley or rye.  

I've never done this before, but I looked up the author (Jim Shepard) and wrote him an email asking if he has Celiac Disease.  He just wrote me back and said, "I don't have Celiac disease, but I did want to suggest that my protagonist in 'Hadrian's Wall' did, so I'm delighted to hear that someone who knows would recognize that."

As I said, this is a terrific book -- I'd say that even if it didn't mention CD -- and it's nice to have this extra reason to recommend it to people.  

It's important that I mention that I have no financial connection to the book or the author.  I'm just really enjoying the book and wanted to point out this coincidence.

Richard Paul
Washington, DC
Richard Paul
rlpaulproductions, LLC
3704 Alton Pl., NW
Washington, DC   20016
(202)364-0860 (main)
(202) 352-7259 (cell)
rlpaulproductions.com

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