The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread: A Beloved Coming-of-Age Story of Courage in 1944 Cleveland

"The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread" (GTSSB) was published in 1965 at the beginning of a chaotic time in my life (college, war) and I missed it completely. I'm ashamed to say I had never even heard of it until recently. It has long been out of print and was only recently re-published by the estate of Don Robertson, who died in 1999. GTSSB jumps into the mundane life of nine year old Morris Byrd III in 1944 as America is beginning to look toward the end of World War II. Although the war touches young Morris only slightly, it wraps itself around his world in ways young children would notice. (Having a "C" gas ration sticker for your automobile conferred special status.)The author tells us at the start the story will climax with the greatest industrial disaster in Cleveland history, the October 20, 1944 East Ohio Gas Co. explosion and fire. The actual fire takes up very little of the end of the story, which seems to have disappointed some of the reviewers here. GTSSB is not a story about a fire any more than "Huckleberry Finn" is a story about a river. It's a story about a nine-year old boy who commits an act of minor cowardice and decides, after hearing stories of historical courage from his teacher, to challenge himself to a personal journey of discovery. As Morris makes his way through unfamiliar streets to find his best friend whose family has moved, we meet other characters, some noble, some not, whose lives will touch one another on this grim Friday afternoon.I got so caught up in the story that I pulled up a map of Cleveland on my computer and followed Morris' journey. The streets are still there exactly as described and the story is so plausible I felt it might have been a work of history rather than fiction. The characters are fictional but the rest of the story and tragedy, unfortunately, is not. GTSSB reminds me a lot of another favorite, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. Robertson's writing is not as fluid as Irving, but Robertson was a newspaper writer and tends toward more spare writing, not always a bad thing.If you are inclined to episodic fiction this may not be the book for you. If you like character studies set against the backdrop of history, you owe it to yourself to discover this forgotton gem.

Several years ago, I read an interview with Stephen King in which he said that this book is one of his all-time favorites. I thought, "If it's good enough for the King, it's good enough for me."And you know what? I am eternally grateful to Stephen King for introducing me to this beautiful, hilarious, and heartbreaking story.Told from the perspectives of a handful of characters in the moments leading up to and just after a gas explosion in Cleveland in 1944, the primary focus of this book is Morris Bird, III (always referred to as Morris Bird, III), a nine-year-old who decides that he wants to be a hero. Morris Bird III's idea of heroism might be different from yours, but to him, this one thing he wants to do will make him a hero. He will skip school and walk across town to visit his best friend who moved away a few months earlier. Along the way, Morris Bird III meets people who help him, just as he - perhaps unknowingly - helps them. We also see how the explosion affects characters close to Morris Bird III's home.Parts of this book will make you laugh out loud, and parts will make you cry. I used a grant to purchase a class set of this for my high school English students to read, and they love it. It's different from the normal English class fare, which I know they liked, but they also fell for Morris Bird III. I sure did.

I read this book decades ago. I read it one time and it made such an impact on me that I still remember the title over 30 years later. Be prepared to cry at the end. That's all I'm going to say.

Read this book when I was in school many years ago and it stayed with me as one of the best stories, and best written ones ever since. In a horrific situation, a little boy demonstrates the qualities that are behind every act we call "heroism." An inspiring and moving story with life-long impact.I struggled to find it, years later when it was out of print, because my original copy had been lost during a number of moves. I paid an exorbitant amount of money in order to have it for my own children, and I'm about to buy multiple copies again to have on hand and to give away because it's a story that resonates no matter how long ago it was written.WITHOUT BEING PREACHY, this story demonstrates and exalts the qualities we all want to see fostered in our children, and aspire to possess ourselves.You admire the folks who ran into the towers on 9/11?Morris Bird III personifies the qualities that allowed them to do that, and makes them feel real and accessible to youngsters (like I was when I read it). Unforgettable!

This book tells the interesting story of the 1944 natural gas explosion/fire in Cleveland, Ohio. The story is interesting, but very poorly written. One paragraph was 13 pages long! Very difficult to read.

My words would never do justice to this GREAT MAN and his perfect words. i love him so much that I could cry wanting to GIVE HIM AWAY to everyone. He allows you to live every sentence....See everything thing in the scene....smell the spring...and feel what is inside the character.His book...PRAISE THE HUMAN SEASON.... should be in every High School, College, and home in america. Of thousands of books I have read ...THAT ONE... and ...THIS AUTHOR... are on my shelf in duplicate , in case one gets lost. He is an historian beyond words. You live in the TIME of the story and learn what it was like when life was a little more innocent. This is a swwt book..and you must find Dan Robertson...even if you have to get his books from a used book store. RUN TO FIND ONE... and THIS ONE is one of them !

One of the great epic novels of twentieth century America and one that ought to be much better known. Don Robertson has created a loving, insightful and most dramatic journey of a young boy and his sister across Cleveland to visit a friend during a catastrophic gas explosion . This novel really is The greatest thing since sliced bread!