Characters
Homer lives in Centerburg, a small town in Ohio just north of Columbus. He is a mild-mannered boy who enjoys fixing radios, and who somehow gets involved in a series of outrageous incidents, such as tending an inexplicably unstoppable doughnut-making machine in his uncle's diner, or caring for mystery plants that turn out to be giant form of allergy-inducing ragweed. He does odd jobs like raking leaves, and sweeping up the diner or the nearby barber shop. His main job is helping out in his father's business, a motor court, where Homer also resides.
James Daugherty said of Homer Price, "It is America laughing at itself with a broad and genial humanity, without bitterness or sourness or sophistication."
One of Homer Price's adventures, "The Case of the Cosmic Comic", parodies the Superman phenomenon, with Homer and his best friend Freddy attending the local personal appearance of Freddy's favorite superhero. Freddy is unable to understand that "The Super-Duper" is an ordinary actor in a costume, and expects him to be capable of super feats. Homer, however, quietly displays a more mature view of the hero.
Another adventure of Homer's is when an adult friend of his in Centerburg wins a contest for composing an advertising jingle for shaving lotion, but the prize money is stolen on the air by an armed robbery. By chance, the robbers are resting at the same motor court, and Homer sees it as his chance to stop them and claim a cash reward in order to build all sorts of radios and (at the time) an expensive television. Although Homer is eager to profit from the reward, he is also genuinely interested in bringing the robbers to justice as they stole from a man he knew.
Flim-flam merchants and larger-than-life paraphernalia appear in several stories. One features a snake-oil salesman—Professor Atmos P. H. Ear—offloading an odorless, colorless, tasteless chemical called "Ever-So-Much-More-So" that when sprinkled on things, supposedly enhances everything; a soft bed would become softer, a fast car becomes faster, and so on.
Many of the male residents of Centerburg share first names with classical figures; "Grandpa Hercules", "Uncle Ulysses", "Uncle Telemachus", and, of course, Homer himself.
African-American characters appear in the books, portrayed positively as ordinary citizens. During a centennial celebration of Centerburg, a chorus from the African Baptist Church provides music, although the drawing of the boy who finds the diamond bracelet in the donut is drawn in decidedly tattered and patched clothing.
Read more about this topic: Homer Price
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“For the most part, only the light characters travel. Who are you that have no task to keep you at home?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“Philosophy is written in this grand bookI mean the universe
which stands continually open to our gaze, but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it.”
—Galileo Galilei (15641642)
“For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are slow to acknowledge that they have changed, even for the better.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)