Cereal For The Soul

Our Daily Bran
Warren Anderson
Self Published
Five Scoops of Bosco

Reviewed by Allen Bacon, BOSCO Fullerton

One thing I love about self-published books is that usually these are books that the big publishers don't have the vision, patience or the courage to produce. A lot of these books miss the mark, mind you, but every once in a while you run across a real gem.

Our Daily Bran, a collection of poems by Fullerton Resident Warren Anderson definitely falls in the latter category.

First of all, you have to love an author who paints his own cover. Anderson is an accomplished landscape artist and his cover sets the mood for his book of poems. It is calm and pastoral with just a hint of mischief. As a publisher myself, I would have tied into the Bran theme more. I would have probably created a faux Bran cereal box for the cover. But that's just me and my graphics background coming through.

I love where Anderson gets his inspiration for his interest in the written word . "My word hero is Vin Scully (the LA Dodger broadcaster), says Anderson. "who can colorfully describe the action without distortion, use metaphors and similes that sparkle and call a game without umpiring or rooting for the home team. For instance, Vinny described a huge base runner who stumbled, fell down and tried to get back to the bag, as looking "like a beached whale trying to get back in the water! He described the floating knuckle ball as a butterfly or debris and described the pitchers for tomorrow's game as a Dodger with all of his strikeouts and a pitcher who has a long name as the Cub with all of his syllables.", continued Anderson.

In fact one of my favorite poems/stories in the book, The Sights of Mexico is an account of Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitching. Or the hilarious Next of Kin is another personal favorite.

I suppose the best way to describe Anderson's style is that he is like a cross between Charles Osgood of CBS radio, Shel Silverstein, Garrison Keillor and Billy Graham. The first part of his book is devoted to religious themes while the second part is primarily whimsical and clever poetry on everyday life.

The son of Swedish immigrants, Anderson grew up in Minneapolis. He earned his degree in Southern California and entered public school work as a teacher, counselor and administrator. He is a Christian and enjoys writing poems on Biblical themes. "I will read a text several times for inspiration, not looking for doctrinal evidence or debate but for pathos, triumph, personal edification or even enjoyment. I am interested in what the text says to me, rather than what I can prove from the text.", Anderson said.

Mr. Anderson's book is available through BOSCO Books. This book is $12 plus $5 for shipping and handling. Paypal is accepted. Email orders to: boscotheblog@earthlink.net