The Sonoma Police Report: funny, odd tales from the wine country

Filled with reports collected from the police blotter mixed with stories from the local residents of bucolic Sonoma, famous for its wine, cheese, and roses, these collected recordings are intended to characterize the author’s hometown. Looking through the eyes of a local, that is the author, the reader samples the ambience of a small town with its mischievous miscreants, resident characters, Darwinian risk takers, and, remarkably, the patience as well as restraint of the local constabulary. In this collection, police reports and anecdotal tales from cabbies and other residents repeatedly fill the pages under topics of pot, wine, adolescent hijinks, and plain simple mindedness. It paints a jumbled picture of a town infected with adolescent immaturity, and will appeal to those readers who enjoy guffawing at slapstick humor. The escapades described are reminiscent of the pranks that my sophomoric high schoolers would cockily crow about; fortunately, this is a phase they eventually outgrow as the grey matter increases its superficial covering, though unfortunately not so for the adult adolescents. As for the other shenanigans described, most of us have seen similar incidents in other locales. After the initial scan, further reading turns repetitious and grating.