Dollarapalooza or The Day Peace Broke Out in Columbus / / Gregg Sapp.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Sapp, Gregg,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2021]; ©2011
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Switchgrass Books
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (508 p.)

This sprawling, footnoted, comedic epic centers around Vonn Carp, who travels to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, for a funeral. He is returning disgraced and destitute, when, after a long and productive career in higher education, he was discovered to have falsified his academic credentials 20 years prior. Recently divorced and suddenly unemployable, he reluctantly agrees to join his father, Milt, in what he considers an iffy business venture—Dollarapalooza, a family-owned dollar store. For Milt the shop is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for old-fashioned mercantilism, a "general" store. The store falls on hard times when a massive, big box "Wow-Mart" opens across the street and after a nearly tragic armed robbery in his store, Milt disappears. To the surprise and chagrin of the Carp family, Vonn insists on re-opening Dollarapalooza. Along with the store's eccentric staff, Vonn fashions an alternative business model aiming to make a difference in people's lives "one dollar at a time." For just one dollar, Vonn will answer anybody's question on any topic, and the citizens of Columbus come to him seeking his opinions on subjects like love, celibacy, anthropology, metaphysics, the Internet, and the true meaning of value. Through his interactions with the store's staff and customers, he conceives a new way of life with a changed outlook and a restored sense of purpose.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Prelude -- Part 1 Before -- On the gray, mirthless day -- There's a right time for everything -- Vonn was lying -- It pleased milt to ponder -- It was more or less -- Jay-rome often hung around -- Mel worried about things -- Shine knew she'd be late for work again -- Mark counted on blatz -- "Boo!" Huck squealed -- The gluttonous juggernaut -- On a lunatic full moon -- Milt's milkman instincts -- Interlude -- Part 2 After -- If not for Vonn's dogged -- The grand reopening of Dollarapalooza -- Revenues were stagnant -- Ugg dogg, didn't appreciate the ruckus -- One of the few out-of-touch persons -- Before the internet, there was graffiti -- Vonn liked to look out the window -- Mel never remebered to buy milk -- Vonn succumbed to popular pressure -- When Vonn watched the video -- Whenever she walked so fast -- Take me out to the ball game -- We've done chose us a date -- Shine had planned to lie to the choir -- To Hear Milt tell the story -- Epilogue