Logline:
Mr. Plumbean lives on "neat street" where all the houses are the same, until one day when a seagull drops a can of orange paint on his house and changes his way of thinking.
London:
This was my first time reading this book. Long, but funny. I like when Mr. Plumbean talks everyone into thinking their dreams and liking him (because he's different).
Ben:
While I knew this book as a child, its strange disappearance from my parents' house kept me from sharing it with Victoria and London. I finally decided that I was going to buy it ($1.77!) and WOW, what a doozy. A terrific comment on non-conformity. What's fascinating about Pinkwater's approach is the sense of fate: A random occurrence sets off his sea change, and not violently; He becomes ensconced in his dreams, which belies individuality, but also the childlike "daydream". Mr. Plumbean doesn't call out the sleeping sheep that are his neighbors as the self conscious crowd who can't afford to risk critique. Instead, as they approach him, he merely explains - over lemonade - where he's coming from. Everything seems calm and safe, like children learning in a classroom.
What it would be like to be in this book:
"If I were Mr. Plumbean", London says, "I wouldn't bother painting my house. I'd do what I want and nobody tells me what to do." Ben simply believes he is Mr. Plumbean. Now if only I could afford some paint...
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