The Last Town on Earth

Finished a fascinating novel today--The Last Town on Earth. It takes place in Washington State in 1918--quite an extraordinary time. World War I was dragging on, fueling many activist protestors. The Women's Movement extended voting rights from state to state, while women began to work at traditional male jobs because of the war-driven labor shortages. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Labor unions were on the rise, sparking fierce conflicts from coast to coast. The Bolsheviks stormed St. Petersburg, while socialist groups and communities popped up across the U.S. And yet the most extraordinary, cataclysmic event of the year was unquestionably the outbreak of the Spanish Flu, which started in the U.S. and spread quickly throughout the world, killing somewhere between 30-100 million people, rivaling the Black Death plague of the 14th century as the worst medical tragedy in the world's history. (And on a personal note, my father was born on the seventh day of the year.)

The Last Town on Earth tells the story of a small, idealistic wood mill town in Washington that attempts to quarantine itself to protect against the disease. As the drama progresses, author Tom Mullen gently presents a range of moral dilemmas and social and psychological insights. Many won't find it very satisfying, as the practical and well-intentioned efforts of the town unravel like a Greek tragedy, leaving a trail of broken lives and ethical ambiguity. Yet it certainly provokes thought, reminiscent in my mind of Albert Camus' The Plague. I thought it was a compelling read.

After-dinner mint: In the final pages of the book, after the end of the novel, is the following addendum: "This book was set in Garamond, a typeface originally designed by the Parisian typecutter Claude Garamond (1480-1561) ... Garamond's distinguished romans and italics first appeared in Opera Ciceronis in 1543-44. The Garamond types are clear, open and elegant." I do enjoy this kind of unexpected learning. And I wonder if Garamond ever dreamed that he would be immortalized by his type face.