Return to the Red Cedar

Return to the Red Cedar is Volume Five in Joe Slade’s Live From the Mushroom Village series. This one is about Alan, aka the Evil Magician, and Dan Miller’s trip to East Lansing to watch The Villagers play The Lansing Fuel Cells. The two baseball teams are fighting for the championship in what looks like a relaxing visit back to the real world. But things turn bloody when a player from the Villagers gets arrested for the murder of a young college student. Dan must investigate while Alan seems to be content reliving his glory days at MSU. Return to the Red Cedar includes the poem, “Something About Social State,” delivered by Alan in a student co-op’s kitchen. Slade gives us a good read as he examines celebrity, anonymity, and the helpless feeling of trouble away from home.