Somewhere along the line - a blurb, a blog, a tweet, somewhere - I got the impression that this book was a humorous look at life in middle America. In other words that it was essentially a collection of funny or amusing stories centered around a small(ish) American town. It is most certainly NOT.

Although there is some light humor sprinkled throughout it is a very serious, often poignant, look at the wide range of "characters" that often make up the towns and communities of what many consider the "real" America. Also, Cadillac Oklahoma is not a small town, it's "a big town, not fancy, just spread out." It has two major claims to fame, a thriving community college and The Juvenile Detention Center.

The book is a collection of short stories focusing on different residents and goings on within the town. The stories are broken up by op-ed pieces from various townsfolk (fictional, of course), a sort of "My town, the way I see it" type of thing. Each opinion piece serves as a buffer between one story and the next.

Some of the story subjects include:

Sloane Isaac Willard, a retired lawyer in his 80's, who has to go to court to prove that he is not insane because his neice has taken offense to the fact that he is taking up housekeeping with his brother's widow without benefit of marriage.

The 78-year-old man who died and left everything to a much younger woman... a *gasp* manicurist.

A father murdered in his bed, perhaps by the teen daughter he was sexually abusing.

A divorced mom trying to make a living as a small town newspaper reporter.

A broken down rodeo rider living a life of quiet desperation while working as a dishwasher.

I thought this was a great book! The stories run the gambit of human emotion and condition. Everything from silly fun to serious drama. It seems as if it would make for an uneven read but it all comes together very well. The author's style reminds me a little bit of Alice Munro.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes literary fiction, lovers of character driven stories that examine the ways people live their lives in difficult circumstances, or anyone who just plain enjoys a good non-genre specific yarn. Cadillac Oklahoma really is quite good!

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this title