I can’t remember the last time I wrote a book synopsis. I’m going to guess around 1975. I have never joined a book club, so that doesn’t help. Three months ago, a friend let me borrow a couple of books that I neglected to finish. When people recommend things to me, I often wonder if they know me at all.

Okay, with that disclaimer over with, let’s move on to my new blog category – Book Report. This may or may not be a monthly gig, as I haven’t been reading a lot. But I went to the eye doctor to establish that I still have 20/20 vision yet paid the extra money to get two pairs of designer progressives (readers to make the font bigger, lol). I need a reason to wear them, so no excuses. And, this book, The Big Door Prize by M.O. Walsh is worth sharing.

I have Apple TV + . I got it to watch Palm Royale and found their other series to be pretty great. The Big Door Prize just finished a second season and as I was scrolling the credits, I noticed it was based on a novel.

The premise is that a mystery machine appears in the grocery store. Called DNAMIX in the book and MORPHO in the show, it offers the customers a card listing their life potentials. This causes many individuals to quit their jobs and follow the instructed path – that is, if they resonate with the result.

The main character is a teacher and since I am about to retire after thirty years of teaching, I was thinking about this chosen profession – was it the right one? Will I now seek my true heart’s desire and what exactly is it? It isn’t/wasn’t teaching, right? Is that machine real? Do I even know myself? Why don’t you just tell me what it is….

Not sure if this is a spoiler, but the teacher gets…teacher. This made me cry. It just sucked. For me, not necessarily for the character. Well, the television show didn’t answer my questions about this mysterious machine. Was it indeed magical and where were they going with it? I decided to read the book and found the answer to that question.

Not sure how they will work back to that result in the show because the characters are not quite the same. Funny how they relocated the Trina character. She is the priest’s niece in the book and the teacher’s daughter in the series. Others have different professions in the book versus the show, and some characters in the Apple + incarnation don’t even exist in the book. The gist of the characters is similar though. The way you end up caring about them in both is top-notch.

The author dives inside the characters’ heads. Exposition more than dialogue here and it works because it really packs an emotional punch. I grew to love each one with every page turn because I learned their motivations for action based on their past experiences.

I love a good depth of character, I really do!

The novel is filled with humor and I am impressed by the differences in each character’s inner and outer voices, mannerisms, senses of humor and ability versus inability to edit themselves verbally. So good.

The Louisiana town is fictional. The author is from Louisiana so these bits of information regarding life in that neck of the woods, that write-what-you-know thing gives the story that fleshed out vibe. Are they parts of real people? One likes Pokemon card games, another plays the trombone, and two others have medical issues. There is a lot of relatable stuff – like, perhaps you know people like this or you think, does Milton Walsh know me?

All the story lines unite at the end of the novel. It’s so good!

I can’t get enough – meaning I love that the TV series takes everything a step further, uncovering new plots and new connections. I think when these producers purchase the rights to novels they pay the author one price then take their liberties. I watched a YouTube video with him and he said he was incredibly grateful for that turn of events. At some point the author must let go of the desire to control his own characters and allow them to morph(o).

Let me know what you think.

I borrowed the book from the Onondaga Public Library but you can also acquire it here.