- Homer Price
Homer Price is the title character of a pair of
children's books written byRobert McCloskey in the early 1940s, "Homer Price" and "Centerburg Tales". Homer lives in Centerburg, a small town inOhio just north of Columbus. He is a mild-mannered boy who enjoys fixing radios, and somehow gets involved in a series of outrageous incidents, such as tending an inexplicably unstoppabledoughnut -making machine in his uncle'sdiner , or caring for mystery plants that turn out to be giant form of allergy-inducingragweed . He does odd jobs like raking leaves, and sweeping up the diner or the nearby barber shop.One of Homer Price's adventures, "The Case of the Cosmic Comic", parodies the
Superman phenomenon, with Homer and his best friend Freddy attending the local personal appearance of Freddy's favoritesuperhero . Freddy is unable to understand that "The Super-Duper" is an ordinary actor in a costume, and expects him to be capable of super feats. Homer, however, quietly displays a more mature view of the hero.Flim-flam merchants and larger-than-life paraphernalia appear in several stories. One features a snake-oil salesman - Professor Atmos P. H. Ear - offloading an odorless, colorless, tasteless chemical called "Ever-So-Much-More-So" that supposedly affects everything; quiet becomes quieter, fast becomes faster, and so on.
Interestingly, many of the male residents of Centerburg share first names with classical figures; "Grandpa Hercules", "Uncle Ulysses", "Uncle Telemachus", and, of course, Homer himself.
African-American characters appear in the book, portrayed positively for the time.
Bibliography
* "Homer Price" ISBN 0-14-030927-6
* "Centerburg Tales" (1951) ISBN 0-14-031072-X
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