Customer Reviews

Away Happens

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This is a wonderful Yankee counterpart to Minnesota's Lake Wobegone! Life on a small island in the Penobscot Bay has its charms and challenges. Crossman's vignettes are humorous, insightful and poignant. A fun read.

I'm not even qualified to be from "away", as an occasional guest of an official "away" resident of Vinalhaven, Maine. But Phil's stories have added greatly to my appreciation of this special island, its people and institutions. I read his hilarious story about an improbable romance at the island dump shortly after returning from there, carefully recycling, cramming my small $1.50 bag of garbage and checking out the free clothes in the "bus".

Unless you are lucky enough to be invited by a resident, you'll probably spend the night in Phil's tiny but comfortable motel, right in the heart of town and surrounded by the best lobster and crab you'll ever eat.

Because the stories were written for several different outlets, the styles and length vary, and there are a few tiny clunkers, but there are also some brilliant phrases that make it all worthwhile. Commenting on some island septuagenarians that insist on golfing at least once per month year-round, he said that it was remarkable, "considering the latitude of the course and the longitude of the participants."

Great fun. Just don't get too absorbed and miss the last ferry!

As a visitor from California I fell in love with Vinalhaven. I met Phil at his motel and bought cheese from his wife. My friend, Marie, who lives year round on the island. gave me this book after our last visit. If you ever get to Vinalhaven, you absolutely must get to the Harbor Gawker. Best Lobster Stew in Maine (as if I would know).

The stories made me smile and some made me laugh out loud and some made me thoughtful. You don't need to be from Maine or from a small town background to thoroughly enjoy the stories. His writing style makes for an easy read. Subtle humor and a gift to create the mood and the picture of his stories make this a wonderfully embracing book.

I savored each story, I hope you do too.

I guess I am lucky to have met Phil Crossman in person before reading his book. Living here on Vinalhaven would be my dream come true. It would be nice to live in an area where everyone knew each other and at the same time be able to give each other the space to rejuvenate. This book is a testimony of what life is like for the people that live year round on Vinalhaven. I have been there twice and I am about to go back for the third time.
I told a friend of mine about the Tidewater Motel a few years back. His name was Fred. I met Fred while I was employed for a family physician. That was back in the day when there was time enough to get to know patients on a personal level. I loved the experience I had from going to Vianlhaven and Hurricane Island so much that I wanted to share it with friends and people I came in contact with after. Fred was the kind of person that loved to travel and we had a lot in common.
I got a letter from Fred in 2006. He told me he went to Vinalhaven the year prior. He said "I'm so glad you shared your Hurricane Island experiences and family history with me. Hurricane is a beautiful place. We hit it on a sunny day. Glad you had let me read your book on Hurricane Island history-made our visit so much more meaningful. We stayed in the "Tidewater" on Vinalhaven and got a ride over and back with Bobby Warren, a local lobster fisherman-a very interesting guy. In Camden we bought 2 books-the one on Hurricane Island and also "Away Happen's" by Phil Crossman the Tidewater owner (funny)."
Fred knew his days were numbered before he went to Vinalhaven. He mentioned in this letter that he had cancer. "Not great news but I'm old and have lived a great life". He was a friend that knew how to listen.
To sum my review here, Phil's book is about ordinary people that care about each other. It's about taking notice to your neighbor. It's about uncomplicated life. It's how people should live. It's about enjoying life without modern technology. It makes you laugh.It's about Island life!
Megan Zopf

The author says that his whole life changed when he discovered that "creative non-fiction" was a legit literary genre. "All these years," he said, "I thought I had been simply lying!" His essays about life on an island well off the Maine coast are the work of a superb humorist. Mark Twain incarnate, indeed. Do read.

Away Happens is a must-read for all lovers of Maine, islands, and life in general. Phil Crossman combines wit, insight, humor, and affection in this book of life on Vinalhaven, an island an hour off Rockland, Maine,accessible only by ferry. He portrays the island community with a down-to-earth honesty and humor that spares no one's warts, including his own. You will laugh out loud and then get on the computer to book a room at Crossman's Tidewater Motel, perhaps even the infamous, but totally delightful, Room #2.