Annie's Soup Kitchen

Smith, Lawrence R.

ISBN 10: 0806135298 / ISBN 13: 9780806135298

Published by University of Oklahoma, Norman, 2003

About this Item

Novel about a group of soup kitchen regulars who take on corporations and the government. Volume 13 in Literature of the American West series. First printing.

Seller Inventory # 13255

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Annie's Soup Kitchen
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma, Norman
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806135298
• ISBN 13: 9780806135298
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • FICTION::General
  • Fiction & Literature

About this title

Synopsis

The "shadow plague" is striking young and old throughout the world with severe amnesia, dementia, and eventual death, and no one knows the cause or the cure. Annie O'Rourke, a ninety-five-year-old retired nurse who runs a soup kitchen for the homeless in Lemon City, California, believes environmental degradation is the culprit. Development and pollution have devastated the Santa Ana River watershed, and Annie is convinced that if she purifies the river, she will cure Southern California's plague victims and stimulate worldwide healing.
With Whiskey Ed, Library Lady, the General, Roderigo, Skulford Elephant, and Perry - all soup kitchen regulars with special skills and powers - eco-warrior Annie forms the Magnificent Seven. Embarking on a campaign of inspired environmental monkey-wrenching, the Magnificent Seven attack a waste disposal plant, a cannery, and an oil refinery, inciting a media frenzy.
When Annie discovers a cure for the shadow plague that includes immersion in the Santa Ana River, she must try to convince authorities to conduct an emergency cleanup. Amidst negotiations, a twenty-five-day flood leaves its marks on Southern California. After the flood recedes, powerful interests seize the land and accuse the Magnificent Seven of terrorism. The group must plan its next move.

About the Author

Lawrence R. Smith is a novelist, poet, translator, and former editor of the literary journal Caliban. Smith is author of The Plain Talk of the Dead and translator of The King of the Storeroom by Antonio Porta and No Trace of the Gardener: Poems of Yang Mu. He lives in Southern California where he has worked every Friday for the last eight years in a soup kitchen.