Uwishunu.com

Northeast Philly has long been a wasteland for many things, especially good authentic tacos and homegrown fiction. We are still waiting on the tacos, but the fiction situation has definitely been looking up lately. Joining Shawn McBride’s Green Grass Grace is The Mustard Jar, by another first-time novelist, Tom Scheid.

Once young, now middle-aged local music supporters like me might remember Tommy’s band, Alice to Nowhere. Alice to Nowhere eventually released a CD under the name Easter. Like many local bands, although more than talented enough, they never made it to the big time. Easter’s CD still holds up.

Suffering from neither rose-colored nostalgia nor bitter lamentations, Tom’s memories of the people and places of Northeast Philly circa the 1980s seem right on target. The Mustard Jar follows a year or so in the directionless post-high school life a normal Northeast Philly guy, who winds up joining a band. Like a great rock song, The Mustard Jar is light, breezy, fun, with some good riffs and a solid ending. Along with teenage antics, The Mustard Jar also craftily weaves in a father/son story with genuine heart.

The Mustard Jar is self-published and needs a little additional editing, but it’s a solid effort nonetheless. Buy one now to read on the beach this summer. Amazon has it, and you can always Froogle it too. And you can try before you buy–page samples can be found at Google Books.

Now if someone would do something about the taco situation.