Grandfather Stories Author:Samuel Hopkins Adams Grandfather Stories can easily stand amount the rarest of literary events, for a series of circumstances that can hardly be duplicated came into perfect combination before such three-dimensional living history could be written. First off, its author had to be the possessor of two grandfathers, both alive and active in his youth - one of them an ... more »octagerarian, still sprightly, with a fine memory, a love of reminiscence and a lively past. Next, the author himself had to be a highly experienced writer, also well along in years and yet with a mind that was utterly uncalcified - one who had not lost an iota of his skill or his God-given gift of total recall. Through fate and fortune, Samuel makes this book remarkable. It progresses and grows from page to page so perfectly that one begins to seek the reasons for such an achievement. Excellent writing is part of the answer, for Samuel Hopkins Adams is a master of the form that lies somewhere between the short story and the anecdote. But good writing alone does not wholly explain the vitality of Grandfather Stories. The true secret of its success lies in the man who wrote it. The unconquerable spirit of Sam Adams is inherent in his work, and his trained observation is always tempered by his irrepressible humor, his gentleness and his human understanding. It will be many years before anouther such book can be written, and until then this one will stand by itself in many ways, a masterpiece in the art of reminiscence.« less