I Am One of You Forever - A Novel (Paperback, New edition)

North Carolina mountain memories of ten-year-old Jess - around whom fantastical relatives spin: Uncle Luden the rake, Uncle Gurton with the never-ending white beard and the unsettling capacity to make himself physically disappear, Uncle Zeno the storyteller, Uncle Runkin who sleeps in his own coffin. And around whom the mysteries of life cluster, largely in the person of Johnson Gibbs, the young hired man through whom Jess discovers friendship, mischief, jealousy, and devastating abandonment when Johnson is killed in W.W.II. Poet Chappell sets the incidents inside a frame of unfussy comedy and then threads through lyricism ("But none of these visions were frightening, they were comforting, and I began to know that death was the Meadow of Vision, where dream was wrested from the marrow or stars"). Some of the stylizing is a touch winsome - "Uncle Gurton's beard had a long and complex history but I will try not to bore us with much of that. Enough to say that it was a fabled beard and that when my father and I heard that Uncle Gurton was coming to visit we were thrilled at the prospect of viewing the legendary fleece." Yet the majority of the episodes here, open-ended, part-real, part-fantastic, have more sly tact than most southern growing-up albums. (Kirkus Reviews)

Wonderfully funny and also deeply touching, I Am One of You Forever is the story of a young boy's coming of age. Set in the hills and hollows of western North Carolina in the years around World War II, it tells of ten-year-old Jess and his family -- father, mother, grandmother, foster brother, and an odd assortment of other relatives -- who usher Jess into the adult world, with all its attendant joys and sorrows, knowledge and mystery.

Jess's father is feisty, restless, and fun-loving. His mother is straitlaced and serious but accepts with grace and good humor the antics of the men of the family, a trait she learned from her own mother. Johnson Gibbs is the orphaned teenager who comes to live with them on their mountain farm. Life on the laurel-covered mountain is isolated and at times difficult, but for Jess it is made rich and remarkable through his relationship with his father and, especially, Johnson Gibbs.

Visiting the farm from time to time is a gallery of eccentric relatives who are surely among the most memorable creations in recent fiction. Uncle Luden is a womanizer who left the mountains years ago for a job in California that "paid actual cash money." Uncle Gurton has a spooky way of appearing and disappearing without ever seeming to enter or exit, but it is his flowing beard, which he has apparently never trimmed and which he keeps tucked inside his overalls, that is of most fascination to Jess.

Uncle Zeno is a storyteller. With the words "That puts me in mind of..." everyone around knows that he is about to launch into another of his endless tales. Uncle Runkin, who always brings his handmade coffin to sleep in whenever he visits, spends his time carving intricate designs into the coffin and trying to find just the right epitaph for his tombstone. Aunt Samantha Barefoot stops by for a brief spell, too. A country singer and cousin to Jess's grandmother, she is a woman of uncensored speech (Jess learns a lot from her) and honest emotions. Chappell tells the story of all of these characters in a series of chapters that range from fantasy and near farce to pathos. As notable for its lyrical descriptions of the rural settings as for its finely honed vernacular dialogue, I Am One of You Forever shows us a world full of wit and wisdom and the sadness at the heart of things. As one would expect from a poet like Fred Chappell, every line offers its own pleasures and satisfactions.

General

Imprint:	Louisiana State University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	July 1987
First published:	July 1987
Authors:	Fred Chappell
Dimensions:	216 x 140 x 13mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	192
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-0-8071-1410-0
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-8071-1410-3
Barcode:	9780807114100

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