Billy Ray's farm : essays / Larry Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Larry, 1951-2004.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Brown, Larry, 1951-2004--Homes and haunts--Mississippi--Oxford Region.

Brown, Larry.

Brown, Larry, 1951-2004.

Farm life.

Fathers and sons.

Mississippi--Oxford Region.

Oxford Region (Miss.)--Social life and customs.

Oxford Region (Miss.).

Novelists, American--20th century--Biography.

Novelists, American.

Fathers and sons--Mississippi--Oxford Region.

Farm life--Mississippi--Oxford Region.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

205 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill, N.C. : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2001.

Summary:

Here, in nine stunning pieces, Larry Brown aims for nothing short of ruthlessly capturing the truth of the geography that shaped him and his art. He tells what it's like to be constantly compared with William Faulkner, a writer with whom he shares the undeniable inspiration of the Mississippi land.

Here is the pond Larry reclaims and restocks on his place in Tula. Here is the Oxford bar crowd on a wild goose chase to a fabled fishing event. Here is the literary sensation trying to outsmart a wily coyote intent on killing the farm's baby goats. And here, overlooking the pond, is the writing cabin built with the writer's own hands. Woven in are intimate reflections on the Southern musicians and writers whose work has inspired Brown's and the thrill of his first literary recognition.

But the centerpiece of this book is the long title essay, which embodies every element of Larry Brown's most emotional attachments -- to the family, the land, the animals. It is a beautiful and important expression of the mysterious sources of a writer's motivation. This is an invaluable book for every reader interested in how a great writer responds, both personally and artistically, to the patch of land he lives on.

Contents:

By the Pond 7

Thicker than Blood 13

Harry Crews: Mentor and Friend 17

Chattanooga Nights 29

Billy Ray's Farm 39

Fishing with Charlie 85

So Much Fish, So Close to Home: An Improv 95

The Whore in Me 145

Goatsongs 155

Shack 173.

Notes:

"A Shannon Ravenel book"--T.p. verso.

ISBN:

1565121678

OCLC:

45463444