Saturday, January 5, 2013, at 2:00 p.m.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (be there or be a Loomis)

Meet the Author


Tourist Traps and Roadside Attractions


Those of us old enough (and fortunate enough ) to have been alive before the network of interstate freeways was complete, witnessed the heyday of the kind of tourist trap represented by Swamplandia! This roadside stops were essential for breaking up long cross-country drive, first of all, with their enticing and totally misleading signage.

Most importantly, if you begged long enough, your parents might even let you take a tour at one, but only one, roadside attraction:

"Because we can afford to let you see either the 'Gator Farm...

...or the IQ Zoo...

...but not both."