William R. Brashear deals with tragedy, not as a dramatic literary genre, but as a basic way of experiencing the universe and of reacting to it. The writer of tragedy forces readers to confront much more than a tragic flaw in a single character; he forces them to confront the gorgon's head itself, the ultimate chaos of the universe.

For him, Aristotle's intellectualization of tragedy distorted it for centuries because the tragic sense of life is experiential and intuitive rather than logical and syllogistic. In the later works of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Spangler, Brashear finds the beginnings of the understanding of tragedy that developed in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature. In careful considerations of such writers as Shakespeare, Tennyson, Conrad, Housman, Shaw, O'Neill, and Arthur Miller, Brashear refines his views of tragedy and tests their validity. The chapter on Tennyson supersedes and goes well beyond "The Living Will," his earlier study of the poet.

Brashear's discussions of individual writers reinforce each other and point to several important conclusions about the tragic vision and tragic art. Most significant among his conclusions is that tragedy is often taken to be more benign and positive than it really is and that if the tragic experience is essentially healthy and rewarding, it is so because it involves a confrontation that broadens, strengthens, and stabilizes and not because it suggests any ultimate solution to the human condition.

The ninth and final volume of A BRASHEAR FAMILY HISTORY, this book deals with James Brazier, of Cumberland Co, NC 140 pp); with descendants of Philip Brashear, 1727-1797 (185 pp); with Brashear(s) West of Mississippi (60 pp); with additions and corrections (138 pp); with Non-Brashear families (70 pp) and Index (78 pp). The book is 693 pages, contains over 10,000 names, about 50 B/W photos, and document scans.

Descendants of Basil Brashear, b. 1714: Martha (Brashears) Morrow of Mecklenburg Co, NC; Robert Boshears of Scott and Campbell Co, TN; William and Sarah Brashear of Spartanburg Co, SC; William Brashear of Adair Co, MO; Ithra Brashears of Crawford Co, IL; and Jeremiah Beshears of Hopkins and Christian Co, KY.

This book is about Basil and Middleton Brashears and their (possible) Brashears, Breshears, Beshears, Boshears, and other descendants in Lawrence Co, Tennessee; Benton, Polk, and neighboring counties, Missouri; the Boise area of Idaho; the Okanagan Valley in Washington; eastern Oklahoma; and a few other places. The family story is that when a group of brothers, cousins, and nephews left Lawrence Co, TN, in the 1830s, each of them changed one letter in their surname. The sons of John Brashears, Sr (married Mary Berry) kept the old spelling. The sons of Henry Brashears, Sr (married Eleanor Hardin) changed to Breshears. A brother who moved to Arkansas, William Arthur Brashears (m. Anna Etheridge) changed his surname to Breashears. A nephew in Arkansas, Berry Brashears (married Anna ____) changed his name to Boshears. The three cousins in Benton, Polk, and Hickory County went by Middleton Brashears, Nathan Turner Breshears, and Alexander Brashears. Some of the descendants of the oldest brother, Basil Brashears, Sr, used Beshears, Boshears, and Brashears as their surname. Visit my website WWW.CharlesBrashear.com for a complete table of contents. ISBN 0-933362-17-X $40 (40% commercial discount).