Customer Reviews

Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town's Fight to Survive

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a highly passionate and highly entertaining book. Author Bill Kauffman was born in Batavia, New York, and as the book's jacket copy notes, experienced "a bumpy ride on the Washington, DC fast track." After that, he knew it was time to return to his roots.

"Dispatches" is a celebration of the people and institutions that make Batavia uniquely Batavian, but it's by no means a rose-colored look at small town life. Because he cares so much, Kauffman is unflinching in his criticism of the community when it strays from its history and values. He's particularly eloquent in writing about the destruction of the city's old central business district and its replacement with a soulless mall, the product of misguided urban renewal. He also looks back at Batavia's colorful political history, including its dubious distinction as birthplace of the anti-Masonic movement; chronicles the decline and fall of Carr's, once the town's finest department store, the inevitable victim of the Wal-Marting and KMarting of America; he takes us to the local ballpark to meet the minor league team he grew up with, the Muckdogs. But lest we think the author's love for his community is wavering, we only have to look to this pronouncement: "This is my place, and whatever I might say about it, however caustic or corrosive my pen, I love it and will forever."

"Dispatches From the Muckdog Gazette," is an eloquent celebration of the power and importance of community spirit.

Twenty years ago, the Pretenders had a marvelous song, "My City Was Gone," about the insidious erasure of local identity: "My pretty countryside / Had been paved down the middle / By a government that had no pride." Bill Kauffman's gem of a book provides a less-hummable but equally memorable update to that song.

Growing up in Batavia, NY, a small-but-unique western NY town, Kauffman sees the city (as the locals call it) start to willfully give up its grand architecture and history with 1960s urban renewal, then moves away to Washington DC and Los Angeles in the 1980s, and ultimately returns there to live, finding the place essentially homogenized into blandness and deterioration. Nonetheless, he and several hearty locals of several generations fight to preserve what's left and maintain it as somewhere worth living.

In this, the story of his hometown that he loves so much, we meet multitudes of memorable characters, good and bad: The Cadillac-driving Monsignor whose will titillated from the grave. The self-important dentist who wouldn't mind hearing "Hail to the Chief" at the legislature meetings over which he presides, and who is quick to name-drop that as an admiral in the Naval Reserve during the Gulf War (in which he served as a dentist), he met Colin Powell. The local madam and philanthropist whose Catholic burial scandalized the town. The dedicated and heroic Congressman who serves the region with distinction, becomes President of the World Bank, and returns home to man the cashbox at the local historical society fundraisers. The tortured novelist who dies before his time, under-appreciated in the place of his birth. The "good Joe" men and women who sit with the author along the third base line at the games of the hometown Muckdogs (the minor league baseball team from which the book's name is derived).

This book is about Batavia, NY but could be about any town low on the radar screen. It's clearly a love letter from the author to his flawed paramour, and it's tough to give five stars to something so intimate and personal, but that's what I must do.

This book won't be for everyone. Big city dwellers and "keep up with the Joneses" suburbanites might not understand why someone would give up the bright lights and fast track of the big city to return to the sticks and forge a unique identity. Parts of the book, especially the first 40 pages, drag down in references to obscure authors and historical minutiae. Ample gratuitous profanity and casual use of every ethnic and racial slur imaginable (including frequent barbs at those sharing Kauffman's German and Italian ancestry) may give vapors to the sensitive.

But readers willing to tolerate the above will find "Muckdog Gazette" to be a challenging read that amply rewards those who are up to its challenge. The author clearly burned lots of shoe leather in researching this book (instead of just relating his own personal experiences), and does an excellent job telling his stories. There are plenty of chuckles, plenty of breathless belly laughs, plenty of moments of real inspiration. Batavia is fortunate to have Bill Kauffman. Kauffman is fortunate to have Batavia. We - and they - are fortunate to have this book.

Every so often, a book comes along that really makes the reader think. Elba resident and author Bill Kauffman's upcoming book, Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette does just that. The book is about the changes in Batavia through the eyes of Mr. Kauffman. I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy and was able to read the 200-page book over the weekend. It contains a lot of humor (many times I laughed out loud, receiving strange looks in the process), some sadness, but it really asks the question, "Why has Batavia changed?" The author does not hold back when writing about religion, ethnicity and race to answer the question. He introduces the reader to many local characters, and tells many stories about Batavians. Although hometown is the book's model, Batavia can be substituted for any small city in America.
Upon graduating from Batavia High School in 1977, Mr. Kauffman left for college and spent time in Washington, D.C. and Southern California before coming home for a "one year experiment" with his Los Angeles raised wife, Lucine. Fourteen years later, the Kauffman family is still here, and Kauffman is trying to keep Batavia from becoming too "progressive" at the hands of politicians who what to rip down the old charms of Batavia and replace them with new, "cookie-cutter" landmarks that help Batavia lose its distinct character.
The book is not a lesson on Batavia history; it is a memoir, a love song and most assuredly a call to arms. Some may be offended by some of the language, but it is used to make a point. Should this book be required reading at BHS? Absolutely. Every BHS senior should read this. It will give them a sense of identity and purpose as they move off into the great big world. Mr. Kauffman writes with passion and love for his home. He also has a paternal protection towards Batavia, and does not want to see it destroyed. After reading the book, it really made me think about the community and what I can do to protect it. I do not agree with everything Mr. Kauffman writes about, but I respect his passion and pride. He only wants what is best for the community and doesn't want a select few narrow-minded politicians ruining it for everybody.

Being a product of Batavia,NY myself, I devoured Mr Kaufmans memoir on Batavia in three days. I couldn't put it down. I knew the people and the situations that he spoke of. I too left Batavia in the 70's to see the world only to return to our beautiful town destroyed and replaced with a Mall that had as much architectural appeal as a gymnasium. It seems like the same contractor replaced our beautiful St. Joseph church with the same box like structure. I'd like to say that I left and never looked back but I constantly look back. I look back to friends, family and that small town appeal that seems to be lost in this world of busyness. Mr Kaufmans book brought me home for a few hours and answered some questions. I laughed and longed for times past.Mr. Kaufman captured growing up in a small town in upstate New York.

I hail from Akron, New York, an even smaller town wedged between Buffalo and Batavia on Route 5. The de-evolution of my town, Mr. Kauffman's, and the Nickel City have occurred in various degrees, and "Dispatches" pretty much explains everything with the kind of self-depreciating yet self-respecting humor that we in Western New York require to stay sane.

Last year I researched some of the local history of Batavia for graduate school. It still surprises me how important the area was in our nation's history, but no one ten miles away has heard of William Morgan, Joseph Ellicott, &c. If anything, this book will remind you that there's more to our nation's identity than the state-approved textbook, or what's on the History Channel. Those who live in the area should by all means check this book out. Some reviewers have complained about the number of confusing references, but it only took me a day and a half to get though it (the reviewers mention that too, ironically).

Also, as someone who's visited the Genesee Country Mall on occasion, I'm drawn to this book like a person driving past an auto wreck. Once I was walking though the mall's almost empty hallways (excepting the OTB, a bar, and a couple government services) and I couldn't help but think that They could write a book about this Dumpster of downtown America. I saw Wendy's wrappers roll across the floors like tumbleweed through Carson City. I've only been inside once in the past three years, and that was to show friends from Buffalo just how bad it could really be. Geez.

Twenty years ago, the Pretenders had a marvelous song about semirural Ohio being plowed over and replaced by shopping malls - "and Muzak filled the air from Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls." Bill Kauffman's gem of a book provides a less-hummable but equally memorable update to that song.

Growing up in Batavia, NY, a small-but-unique western NY town, Kauffman sees the city (as the locals call it) start to willfully give up its grand architecture and history with 1960s urban renewal, then moves away to Washington DC and Los Angeles in the 1980s, and finally returns there to live, finding the place essentially homogenized into blandness and deterioration. Nonetheless, he and several hearty locals of several generations fight to preserve what's left and maintain it as somewhere worth living.

In this, the story of his hometown that he loves so much, we meet multitudes of memorable characters, good and bad: The Cadillac-driving Monsignor whose will titillated from the grave. The self-important dentist who wouldn't mind hearing "Hail to the Chief" at the legislature meetings over which he presides, and who is quick to name-drop that as an admiral in the Naval Reserve during the Gulf War (in which he served as a dentist), he met Colin Powell. The local madam and philanthropist whose Catholic burial scandalized the town. The dedicated and heroic Congressman who serves the region with distinction, becomes President of the World Bank, and returns home to man the cashbox at the local historical society fundraisers. The tortured novelist who dies before his time, under-appreciated in the place of his birth. The "good Joe" men and women who sit with the author along the third base line at the games of the hometown Muckdogs (the minor league baseball team from which the book's name is derived).

This book is about Batavia, NY but could be about any town low on the radar screen. It's clearly a love letter from the author to his flawed paramour, and though it's tough to give five stars to something so intimate and personal, that is what I must do.

It won't be for everyone. Big city dwellers and "keep up with the Joneses" suburbanites might not understand why someone would give up the bright lights and fast track of the big city to return to the sticks and forge a unique identity. Parts of the book, especially the first 40 pages, drag down in references to obscure authors and historical minutiae. Ample gratuitous profanity and casual use of every ethnic and racial slur imaginable (but sparing no one, including frequent barbs at those sharing Kauffman's German and Italian ancestry) may give vapors to the sensitive.

But readers willing to tolerate the above will find "Muckdog Gazette" to be a challenging read that amply rewards those who are up to its challenge. The author clearly burned lots of shoe leather in researching this book (instead of just relating his own personal experiences), and does an excellent job telling his stories. There are plenty of chuckles, plenty of breathless belly laughs, plenty of moments of real inspiration. Batavia is fortunate to have Bill Kauffman. Kauffman is fortunate to have Batavia. We - and they - are fortunate to have this book.

I am a veteran of reading Amazon reviews, but this is the first book that has actually compelled me to write one of my own. DISPATCHES FROM THE MUCKDOG GAZETTE manages to be sweet but not saccharine, loving but not blind, learned but not pedantic, and spot-on 100% right about not just Batavia (which I have visited since reading the book) but about the insidious social and cultural effects of geographic mobility and "dynamism" generally. Kauffman has a distinctive voice that makes him one of the most engaging writers working today. Reviewer Mitchell below could not be more wrong (did Kauffman cut him off in traffic or something? was he on the Batavia planning board?). This is a five-star book if ever there was one. Buy it, read it, enjoy it -- and if you don't live near your home, get ready to deal with the guilt.

This book was wonderful. I was born in Batavia and my father's family were the Boorom of Walnut Street. My mother, Leanna Gateson was Elba's first Onion Queen. Mr. Kauffman's descriptions of Main Street with it's store was right on target. Talking about Newberry's, Sleight's, Carr's and Mancuso's was so heartwarming. These were my 1960's and I remember Batavia with a smile.

It uses Kauffman's hometown as a case study. I don't care whether he lives today within the city limits or down the road a few miles. Either way, one point he's making is that he's chosen to live in the general vicinity of where he grew up. I don't see mockery of or hostility toward Batavia here. I see a realistic assessment, touched with humor, pathos, and appreciation. Kauffman's fine sociopolitical viewpoint is icing on the cake. There's a reason Gore Vidal calls the book "A small masterpiece."

If you're from Upstate- and it's getting to the point where you're more likely to be from Upstate than to still reside here- you'll recognize a great deal in the trials of Batavia. Where this book is weakest, it is still strong- those passages about the dunderheaded mistakes of the Progressives that turned a beautiful western New York down town into just another piece of American strip malled blight are good, but it has been done better by James Howard Kuntsler. If you're looking to get angry, pick up one of Kuntsler's books - the Geography of Nowhere, for instance.

Where this book is strong, it is fantastic. Kauffman is the president of his county's historical society (I have recently gotten into the local historical societies in my town and county- wonderful groups! find yours!) and this book is really just that- a history of the people of his city. This book is the biography of a town- a town that may have tried to kill itself, and continues to do so- but a town worth knowing.

This isn't Kauffman at his best- (I'm partial to Look Homeward, America) - but it is a great look at a fascinating town, by someone who knows it well, and loves it.