I don’t know what it is with me and read­ing books about mentally-​challenged, slow, or oth­er­wise afflicted people. It’s not like I’ve got a fetish or any­thing; I think maybe I’ve got Under­dog Syn­drome. In any case Lot­tery, by Patri­cia Wood, isn’t about a mentally-​challenged person; Lot­tery is about Perry L. Cran­dall. He’s not retarded; he’s got an IQ of 76, and 76 is higher than 75 - The IQ bar for ‘reatrded’.

As an aside, I have noticed some­thing about myself: If a book writes about some­one dying that is in any way dear to the pro­tag­o­nist, I will tear up. I can’t help it. The effect is almost imme­di­ate, and the Man in me shakes his head in dis­gust. This hap­pens more often than it really should, and Lot­tery did it to me as well. I won’t divulge any more about it, because I’m not really in the habit of spoil­ing books.