Review by Joan Reid

The Nyack Villager Reader or, What's O'Connell doing in Cicaloni's House?

"An interesting little quirk of life in Nyack is that nobody lives in his own house."

This wry opening sentence of The Nyack Villager Reader sets the tone to a delightful, literate book by co-authors, Shel & Jan Haber. It tells you that this is a book about community, irony, curiosities and history. It is a selection of stories that first appeared in The Nyack Villager, so like the magazine, the book is a blend of sophistication and home-spun stories written with humor and intellect. Forgotten legends, local heroes and natural phenomena all launch the Habers into research. Factual and fascinating are The Dinosaur Theft in Grandview, End of the World in Nyack, and The Mystery of the Rabbits.

Subjects not specific to the river villages include the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the science of fingerprints, why pencils are yellow, National Pie Day,slavery, the treatment of veterans, and respect for creatures great and small.

Want to find out why the banana may become extinct, the origins of Halloween or who created the first pie? You'll just have to read the book. If you enjoy The Nyack Villager, you’ll love The Nyack Villager Reader.

So, what is O'Connell doing in Cicaloni's house if it's not his? Well, according to former Mayor, Terry Hekker, “It ‘s not your home until you die in it."