Harvest American Writing
1 total work
Lucien Letourneau was just a name in Carolyn Chute's best-selling first novel. "The Beans of Egypt, Maine." In this one, thanks in part to a mill accident that left him with "a metal head and other metal parts, " he's a legend. Big Lucien owns two salvage yards. In one, he salvages auto parts. In the second, a corner of his property called Miracle City, he salvages people - ex-wives, children, assorted other relatives, old women, families evicted from their homes, employees down on their luck. That's what's got the selectmen in Egypt up in arms. The graveyard of cars is eyesore enough, they say. With the shacks and particle-board camps he's erecting now in Miracle City, Big Lucien is making the town look like the slums. They pass codes to stop him, but Big Lucien with his legendary "heart of gold, " refused to give up.