Pearson (English and Journalism/Old Dominion Univ.) recounts, in a
series of charming informal essays, his experiences visiting six
places with literary associations - Frost's Vermont, Faulkner's
Mississippi, Flannery O'Connor's Georgia, Hemingway's Key West,
Steinbeck's California, and Twain's Missouri. Although each chapter
includes a biography of the author and a history of the place, all
carefully researched with familiar citations, this is neither a
literary nor a travel book, for the emphasis falls on the
unexpected people and experiences Pearson found as he went in
search of his literary prototypes. In Vermont, he finds TV producer
Norman Lear living on Frost's farm, and in a village near
Manchester, Barbara Comfort, artist, mystery writer, and inventor
of, among other things, an edible toothpick. In Mississippi,
Pearson comes across Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, and while few
remember O'Connor in Milledgeville, Georgia, Pearson learns a lot
about the serial murders there that became the subject of Pete
Dexter's Paris Trout. In Hemingway's Key West he finds "Papa's" old
sparring and drinking partners, businessmen thriving on the
real-estate market, and a lady who prospers from designing silk
pajamas for Bill Cosby. Salinas, California, is still Steinbeck
country, home to Steinbeck's laborers, landscape, and a restaurant
where "each waitress could pass for Steinbeck's mother." Perhaps
the only place that should have been left in Pearson's dreams is
Hannibal, where he took his two young sons to discover a shabby,
depressed area surviving on tourists. Clemens Field, a recreation
spot, retains the walls and barbed wire from when it was a camp for
German POWs. Pearson's descriptions and interviews are first-rate,
but his literary allusions are often strained (in part because many
of the places are not important in the literature), as is,
occasionally, his writing: "the sunshine is as thick as melted
butter." Still, a pleasant read, full of rich anecdote and detail.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Michael Pearson here writes about his travels to American places of
literary import, including: William Faulkner's Mississippi; Ernest
Hemingway's Key West; John Steinbeck's California; Mark Twain's
Missouri; and Flannery O'Connor's Georgia.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
