Tucked away on the Atlantic shore in often-overlooked Delaware sits Rehoboth Beach, one square mile of cottages, upscale restaurants, fry joints, plein air bars, art galleries, t-shirt shops, and, of course, sandy beaches. Founded in 1872 as a Methodist summer retreat, this little beach town draws a different congregation today, a delightful and eclectic blend of highbrow and lowbrow, homo and hetero, urban and rural. There’s no place quite like it.
For six years, writer Rich Barnett has been sniffing out what’s interesting, quirky, historic, and, yes, even tawdry about his adopted hometown for his “Camp Stories” column in the local magazing Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. This book brings together for the first time forty of Barnett’s best stories ranging in topic from the influence of the du Pont family and a feisty matron’s war against mosquitoes to the town’s growth as a gay getaway and the pursuit of the perfect French fry.
A unique town requires a unique book, and Barnett provides exactly what’s missing in ordinary travel guides and sites: insights, heart, and an unending curiosity that leads the reader beyond the Boardwalk and into private Rehoboth. The Discreet Charms of a Bourgeois Beach Town mixes travel, history, and memoir, all with a short of humor and a dash of irreverence to keep it fresh. It’s a humorus and gently satiric portrait of one of the East Coast’s most unique beach towns.
Specifications
- Paperback: 168 pages
- Publisher: Go Cup Publishing (June 5, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 098499940X
- ISBN-13: 978-0984999408
- Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
- Price: U.S. $17.00
- Design: Maggie Powell Designs, Asheville, NC
- Cover Art: Louisa Marcq
THE DISCREET CHARMS OF A BOURGEOIS BEACH TOWN 
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