School is open with limited services, and only for two business days this week; that’s about how many employees are present on campus. A number of coworkers, believing I skipped out until classes started again—ah, how sweet generous vacation allowances are—left voice mail messages last week prefaced like this: “You’re probably in Jamaica, but if you are in, I have a problem with…”

But then, that’s my job. Those are the calls I get. Crazy tech guy calls…

A peer recommended an excellent book, The River Road by Karen Osborn, which I enjoyed a great deal. This novel stands as a fine example of effective dual voice narration. In all, four narrators show the story—and in first person. Initially thought such a device might interrupt the flow, and jar the reader loose from the story, but in this case it not only works, the additional voices make for a richer experience.