No familiarity with Omaha is needed to enjoy this charming book--it's for any reader who delights in old houses, faded newspaper clippings, family stories, memories of old restaurants with famous bean soups or names like "U Eat a Hamburger," and architectural details from a bygone time. The author does not tell just the story of the buildings, their residents and their place in history, but also how she found it all out--the joy of the hunt is part of the point. While each investigation starts with her curiosity about a building, the anonymous Miss Cassette tells readers that these are ghost stories, because what she sees in their details is the fact that decades ago, a human hand laid that cobblestone or turned that doorknob: "All evidence of life."
Based on Cassette's blog, My Omaha Obsession retains that intimate voice, addressing the readers as fellow detectives spying on these people's lives. She claims that her own mother reads only every 20th word, but even if readers skip over some paragraphs that list the name of every resident of a home, the book more than satisfies the curious reader. "I about died," Cassette exclaims, upon finding a 1928 newspaper story. Its headline reads, "He Has a Castle in His Back Yard," and gives details about a previous resident of a house that she's obsessed with. These are the moments that make her quest worthwhile. --Linda Lombardi, writer and editor