Mississippi Books

I've read this book several times, and it never fails to move me. I don't think I've read a more powerful book. Oprah needs to get on this one.

Brother to a Dragonfly is the story of 2 brothers who, in their own way, idolize each other. Will looks up to his older brother Joe. Joe is the protector. He always wants to make things right. And Joe knows that Will is destined to have a mark on the world. But Will D. Campbell has written more than a memoir in writing about growing up with his brother Joe in rural Mississippi. He has captured a piece of America's past. This book reads like a novel - poverty, war, race relations, the civil rights movement, drug addiction, domestic violence - it's all there. Occasionally Campbell makes an awkward jump in the story, but this some how enhances the voice and reminds the reader that this is life. Life doesn't always flow like we would like it to. While telling the story of his brother, Campbell paints a portrait of southerners (himself) during the civil rights movement that don't always get the recognition they deserve. I was surprised by the insights he had 40 years ago about both sides of the civil rights movement. I was even more surprised to find that I had bought into many of the southern stereotypes, and I'm southern!
If you are interested in southern literature, coming of age stories, family relationships, American history from 1930's to 1960's, or the Civil Rights Movement, you need to add Brother to a Dragonfly to your list of reads. Will D. Campbell gives a first rate account of his experience. While it is only one man's view, it is a rich one!

This book sets the standard for brotherly love: through the joyous days of youth, through sickness, through the reversal of who worships who, each standing up for the other no matter what.

This book also wrestles with faith, guilt before the law versus guilt before God, examines stereotypes and throws them away.

"Suddenly I knew a lot of things I had not known before. I knew that I had been caught in my own trap. (In a discussion with a Klansman) Suddenly I knew that we are a nation of Klansmen. I knew that as a nation we stood for peace, harmony and freedom in that war (Vietnam), that we defined the words, and that the means we were employing to accomplish those ends were identical with the ones he had listed."

Follow Will Campbell in his journey with his brother and your horizons will be broadened.

If you were raised in the south as I was, have an interest in the civil rights movement, or want to enjoy one of the most irreverent Christian curmudgeons ever to irritate the church, then read Will Campbell (b. 1924). Campbell was born and raised in the rural and very poor deep south of Amite, Mississippi, "ordained" by family members at a local Baptist church when he was seventeen, and, in a delightfully improbable life, played a central role as an activist and agitator on behalf of African Americans. But to leave it at that would badly misrepresent him.

After World War II Campbell studied at Tulane, Wake Forest, and Yale. He served as Director of Religious life at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), but left after two years because his controversial views attracted death threats. He then did a stint for the National Council of Churches where he worked with most of the civil rights luminaries. In 1957, Campbell was one of four people who escorted the nine black students who integrated Little Rock's Central High School; and he was the only white person to attend the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. So, how did he come to sip whiskey with the KKK and get hate mail from the left?

Campbell came to distrust all movements and institutions, especially the church (he once referred to television preachers as liars, frauds, and "electronic soul molesters"). He dismissed all politics as impotent. It was less than Christian, he realized, to agitate for the oppressed but to hate the oppressor. No, one could not preach what Luther called a "fictitious grace." God loves the redneck Klansmen as well as the disinherited blacks. For the most part, Brother to a Dragonfly tells the story of Campbell's deep love for his brother Joe, and how the latter's tragic demise to alcohol, drugs, and domestic violence led to his premature death. But it was through Joe and an overtly pagan family friend that Campbell had a conversion later in life. Without realizing it, he recalls, his twenty years of ministry had become one of "liberal sophistication. An attempted negation of Jesus, of human engineering, of riding the coattails of Caesar, of playing on his ballpark, by his rules and with his ball, of looking to government to make and verify and authenticate our morality, of worshipping at the shrine of enlightenment and academia, of making an idol of the Supreme Court, a theology of law and order and of not only denying the Faith I professed to hold but my history and my people--the Thomas Colemans [who murdered two civil rights workers]. Loved. And if loved, forgiven. And if forgiven, reconciled." There was all the difference in the world, he realized, between being a "doctrinaire social activist," however laudable, and a follower of Jesus. The key? "I came to understand the nature of tragedy. And one who understands the nature of tragedy can never take sides."

Christian renegade, preacher, author of twenty books and plays, farmer, country musician, friend of Thomas Merton, and agent provocateur, Will Campbell loves a good chew of tobacco and will strike many as enigmatic. Not everyone will appreciate his rapier wit. But PBS profiled him in their documentary "God's Will," in 2000 President Clinton honored him with a National Endowment for the Humanities medal, and Brother to a Dragonfly won numerous literary awards.

Brother to a dragonfly, Will D Campbell's brilliant,evocative, nostalgic luminous memoir teels the story of his family in the pre-tva rural south. Though much much more then a simple coming of age story,it is the story of 2 brothers,their lives amid the greatest change in this ountry since the civil war. Will D Campbell and his brother Joe stories are told so movingly,and with such deep power that ,by the end it will move you to tears. It is the sory of a man,family,RELIGION,the south,race,addiction,love and death. It will shatter any preconcieved notions and stereotypes,for Will D Campell is a true iconoclast. I run out of superlatives to describe this book. Read it.

Because I grew up in Memphis and attended the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, I never understood what was so great about Mississippi high school football, and the pride that the different cities and communities had in their teams. For example, I never understood the big deal about South Panola, that is, until my high school beat them at their place my sophomore year. It was the first high school "sellout" I've ever seen.

The reader of this book will soon understand (if he doesn't already) why Mississippi was recently named the greatest football state in the Union. The author chooses a very different but effective way to tell the story of high school football in Mississippi, through little snippets of interviews with coaches. Who better to tell the story than the coaches who coached the games?

If you want some great lessons on how to face adversity as well as how to handle success, this book is a must read. The authors have taken nuggets from the most influental people in many young mens lives and given them to the rest of us. This book, although it has a football theme is so much more than that. Anyone who is directing or planning on directing young lives should read this book and use the lessons to assist them.

Receiving this book as a present from a relative, I was surprised that I actually found myself unable to put it down... you know how presents from relatives usually go! I would describe this book as the "Guide to Understanding High School Football in Mississippi." But this book goes further to understanding just why football is so revered in the state beyond the high school level. You realize football's importance and development through the Junior College and University stages as well. Growing up in North Carolina I only knew the importance of basketball; however, in Mississippi it seems clearly obvious that football reigns as king. Now don't let me fool you, this book is informative but it is also an enjoyable read. The coaches' humorous and heartfelt quotes about their players and their sport reveal that football in Mississippi is much more than a game; it's a metaphor for life which they take very seriously. I would fully recommend Gridiron Gold to anyone who enjoys competition, stories of inspiration, or just remembering what it was like to fully immerse yourself in Mississippi's favorite high school pastime.

This is a great read for anyone who enjoys football! I originally got this book for my husband who played high school football in Mississippi. The first page that he flipped to after opening the book contained a picture and quote from his old coach. We read the book together and let me just say that I never realized that high school football could have such an impact on almost every aspect of life.
The book renewed my pride in my home town in Mississippi. The stories are so inspirational. The lessons that are shared by the coaches quoted in the book will go straight to your heart and will be directly applicable to your life whether you live in Mississippi or New York. For all you girls out there, you don't have to know about football to appreciate this book. It is a very easy read and for the most part is divided into short quotes that you can digest one at a time if you are new to the subject. Also will be a good gift for someone in your life playing high school football currently. It might give them a bit of insight into why coach is so tough sometimes.

This is one of the "coolest" compilations of stories and recollections that I have seen in quite a while. It was like listening to an old coach tell all his stories from throughout the years. Really quick read, and great to have around as a reference to all the great legends of this region. I was amazed with how many of the old ball coaches that I recognized and remembered from my younger days. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I liked this book so much, I ordered another copy through Amazon to be sent to a dear friend, I met at the Redgreen lodge. I am waiting for the chance to see the documentary on most of our PBS stations again. Or Discovery, whatever they show it on. In either case, a good read for just about anytime. thanks, paul

Pack your bags and go along with Kenny as he ventures along the banks of the Mississippi River. You'll think you're right there with him.

I met Kenny and his stories are just as he is. He has a skill in telling stories that makes you wish you were there with him. I would recommend the book to all the people that enjoy the Mississippi river area.

Kenny Salwey's a talented storyteller with many Mississippi tales to tell! I recommend this author to all outdoor enthusiasts, & anyone that loves a good story. It's a MUST for anyone living in a little river town!

Wonderful book by Salwey...took me back to a simpler, down to earth time. Kenny weaves a profound story of man and nature.

This book has it All! Politics, affairs, embezzelment and dishonesty. Who could ask for more from one book?
It tells a story that anyone who is the slightest bit interested in the behind the scenes goings on of politics can easily get lost in.
It is the story of a modern day heroine literally risking her life for the rights of the citizens she is working to protect.
Amazingly true to life. This book is addictive. I had to finish it, and did so within a day. I could not put it down!

Being a Mississippi native and enjoying reading about corruption in the state's capital city, ON THE RECORD was a superbly enjoyable read. With the author's description of characters and what is happening, you will feel as if you are in the middle of the action. Suspence, along with surprise fills this thriller to the end. You will not want to put it down. It left me wanting to know more.....Hope there's a sequal!

Joe Lee's first novel, On the Record, offers an insiders view of one our country's greatest assests... Mississippi grit. His characters abrasivly rub one another raw, yet the end result is scrumpious!

As a native Mississippian myself, I firmly believe that Joe Lee's witty tale tells more about the inside working of political power and the personal stakes involved in playing the game. Beyond layers of deception surrounding his heroic female lead, Joe Lee uncovers an unfettered human response to career women, love-hate relationships, fright and flight.

Indeed, On the Record is a keeper, and Joe Lee is a writer the publishing industry should keep up with.

This book is a great read! If you like a page turner filled with suspense, a little romance and characters that come alive you'll love On The Record. It kept me on the edge of my seat wandering how Maureen was going to handle the situation she found herself in. And the ending....a great surprise

I found this novel to be a good read. I read it the same week that I read John Grisham's King of Torts and I found this novel to hold my attention in a similar manner. The story line concerns government corruption and influence peddling in the Attorney General's office. I found myself to be rooting for the success of the main character in her efforts to expose the corruption while maintaining her job, her reputation, and. possibly her life. As the plot twists and turns, the reader is repeatedly hit with new revelations and unexpected relationships between the characters.

This book carries the mystery to its final pages and the success or failure of the main character's efforts remains in doubt right up to the end.

I highly recommend this book and am anxiously awaiting the next!

The recipes are easy to follow and execute. The personal comments are heartwarming. The chocolate cake recipe alone is worth the price of admission -- it's a winner and so is the book!

I am dazzled by the variety and style of the recipes.

The book is easy to follow and the results are astounding. From onion sandwiches to Corn Bisque, Chocolate Cake to Classic meat dishes with a flair. This book is a wonderful departure from the standard theme cookbooks we are all so familiar with.

Linda Larson

The book is delightful to read. The relative who collected the recipies and wrote so eloquently about his uncle and his recipies shows a true flair for entertaining the reader with amusing and helpful referances about how to "bend the rules" of cooking like the pro's so often do to achive unique and savory foods.

He has given us the true secrets of cooking.

The recipies are very imaginative and elegant without being pretentious. How this chef could put together such a collection of diverse and universal ingredients shows a true love of food and the art of cooking.

I recieved a copy of this cookbook for my birthday last month. Talk about a gift that keeps giving. I am able to find a delicious recipie for almost any ocassion. Dinner, brunch, picnics, or special events. The easy going instuctions are trustworthy. ( I don't feel I have to try the recipie before an event.) Secrets of a New Orleans Chef has given me compliments from those I've cooked for I never would have expected.Two friends have requested the name of the book for purchase. One of them is a chef in a local Italian restaurant. He said "my" duck was unbelievable.

I highly recoomend this book for amatures and gourmets alike.

Nicole Bullock

I worked with Chef Tom at the Upperline. I went from New Orleans to cook in the South Pacific and Aspen. Chef Tom's way of doing things is absolutely classic. He had a way of settling on and emphasizing classic combinations of flavour that I have never seen matched; it was instinctive. After knowing Tom I have never met anyone else worthy of the title "chef". His was a flawless palate, as broad as it was deep. It amuses me to see TV chefs lionized in the media when Tom did his work so well with no applause. Chef Tom said once that there is a difference between cookbooks and recipe books; THIS is a cookbook.

It has been said that the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. This evokes a hearty laugh or two. But Maude Schuyler Clay's Delta, this land of her black and white photograph collection, bears little humor at all.

Clay, the contributing photographer for The Oxford American (the nearly defunct glossy southern literary magazine) is a Sumner County, Mississippi, native. Back to the Delta to live and work after a decade in New York City, Clay combines landscapes, or the Delta flatscape, with the stark loneliness of the occasional roadside dog. Few humans don the pages of Delta Land.

Mississippi writer Lewis Nordan, a Delta native himself, writes a provocative and interpretive introduction to the book, one that is witty and piercing in its critical and story-like style.

The book's sepia-toned landscapes show the one constant in a region dominated for millennia by the mighty Mississippi River. That constant is erosion. Many of the photos recall decay and loss. Such is the depiction of the Tallahatchie Bridge of Billy Joe McAllister's jump to the depths below.

This coffee table book, a collection of minimalist and postmodern art, promises to deliver a true, honest, dispassionate and yet emphatic view of the Delta for all who read its words and view its pictorial depictions. The book, not far removed from the documentary eye of Walker Evans, is about memory and the hard, melancholic road that memory often takes us. I recommend it for all who love or long for the land it memorializes.

---------Reviewed by Dayne Sherman

If you feel a special attachment to your particular place on the planet, this book is for you. If you feel a great longing for a place that was once home, this book is for you. If there is no such place for you, but you wish there were, this book is for you. If you simply want to see a place, any place, through the eyes of someone who feels *place* keenly, deeply, naturally, this book is for you.

In *Delta Land*, Maude Schuyler Clay shares her love of place, warts and all, with you. The photographs are luminous and tender and crafted strongly, and filled with a deep, genetic understanding of the Mississippi Delta. If place has any meaning for you at all, you will find your own sensibilities on every page.

Place matters most perhaps to those who no longer have a place. Maude Schuyler Clay's *Delta Land* shows why.

Currenting residing in Germany (and England before that), I often think about the Mississippi in which I grew up with mixed emotions. Maude Schuyler Clay's stunning photographs, with their dark aesthetic, render visible some of the emotional landscapes and scenes that I visit occasionally in my dreams (which border on the nightmarish). Her photographs are, in my opinion, meditations on loss, on some truth of the past that slips irrevocably beyond grasp at the moment of its apperception. The artist shows us ash-covered, post-nuclear landscapes whose projection of annihilation is terrifyingly beautiful and profound. As Lewis Nordan's wonderfully written introduction points out, there are no pictures of cotton pickers in this collection of Mississippi images. The subject of these photos is far more interior and complex, inspiring reflection on the passage of time, memory, death, guilt, and the fragility of the human condition.

As a child of this place called the Delta, this was my world. This was home. Ms. Clay has captured it as it was in my childhood - and as it, to some extent, continues to be. The scenes she portrayed were classics. I may not have seen a particular church or bayou, but I have undoubtedly seen its twin. The black-and-white photographs add a timelessness that color could not. These photographs could have been made in the 50's as easily as the 90's. Much remains the same in the Delta today. Delta Land is a must for all who call this place home. Thanks, Ms. Clay. This book is what I was looking for - even though I didn't realize it until I first turned its pages.

... to borrow a book title from a few years back, is what Maude Schuyler Clay captures for the reader in this lovely work. The Delta is also the most un-suburban place in America. Many artists (including other photographers) have tackled the subject before. However, I know of no one who has transmitted the visual essence -- at once quiet and powerful -- of what this place is quite like native daughter Clay: she has given us a glimpse into the other-worldliness of her home. While distinct qualities of American regional identity fade elsewhere, the Mississippi Delta remains our wild country, where the land and its knowing tenants make no mistake that they are in an untamed place of severe beauty, devoid of sentimentality. The photographer from Sumner has gotten all of this right.

This is one of my favorite photo books that details the stately old mansions. It's a shame that many were left to ruin, as a direct result of the terrible economic conditions imposed on the South following the widespread destruction by the Union troops in the Civil War. Through preservation efforts some have been spared as a lasting tribute to the South's heritage.

My mother originally bought this book for me when I was twelve, which was forty-some years ago. Even as a young kid, the haunting and heart-catching beauty of these magnificent old homes caught my heart and from then on, I have been a true lover of ante-bellum architecture and history....I pulled my original copy off the shelf the other night and just out of curiosity, looked it up on Amazon....I figured I would never find another copy of this great book, but leave it to Amazon! I can't believe its still available somewhere.....you must buy this book for your collection....most of the black and white shots are taken ( I think ) in the 1940's and early 1950's, when there was still something left to photograph....as someone else said on this site, these are probably the only actual photographs of many of these places. I am happy to report that there are some,including Oak Alley Plantation and Houmas House, that are still standing and beautifully restored, looking even better than the shots in this old book, so its not all sad, but if you buy it, you will never forget this tragic memoir of the past...

This book contains heart breaking photos of mostly Louisiana Plantations, some Beautifully restored but most are tragic beauties gone for ever, it is the only source for most of these homes to still exist, many of these photos are the only images of these magnificent homes ever taken, read the book front to back and you will agree, it reads like a novel of the tragic queens of the old south.

The Old South and particularly the Plantation homes is a subject that always interested me. This particular book is the best I have ever seen. Some of Mr. Laughlin's comments are a bit flowery, but for the most part, he captures the spirit of this time in history. I think it is wonderful that people have restored some of these homes back to their original splendor, but the pictures and the history of the homes that have long since been destroyed are the most interesting and are truly the "Ghosts Along the Mississippi".

This is a stunning portrait of history gone of the graceful architecture that was to epitomise the South in the US - the antebellum ladies. The oversize black and white photos so the decay nipping at the great ladies (some now sadly lost) with the haunting skill of a painter. Not just the houses themselves, but the smaller touches like the decorations, the outer buildings, the grave-markers. And not, pictures of perfection, so showing with time's ravage has done to them. He effectively catches the by-gone slice of history with a little camera magic, so at the superimposed image of a ghostly woman in the a mirror on the wall pf Parlange Plantation or the pencil portrait of the child of Voisin Plantation.

There are other plantation books that go into more detail of the history of these dying giants of America. But but none captured their spirit as well, and it's too late in many cases for anyone else to even try.

A beautiful work.

The author does a very good job telling the story of these Confederate
soldiers. Although the battles are discussed in some detail, I liked the
book because I didn't get bogged down in the minutia of the battlefield. The
story is more about the men than the battles, which is what makes it
interesting.

I think this is a wonderful book. While it might be a cliche, I "felt like I was there" much of the time while I was reading. It is obvious that a lot of research went into this book, and the book is written in a very engaging style. The author is a fantastic story teller, and that is definitely part of the book's charm. I felt like I actually got to know the men in the
regiment as I read about what happened to them during the four year struggle. To make a long story short, I love reading about the Civil War and I loved reading this book.

Ben Wynne's book provides the reality of the moment in 1860-61 Mississippi. The thoughts of the men who formed the 15th Mississippi are front and center. The feelings of the communities of the righteousness of the effort are there too. The ceremonies to present flags to the different units by their communities take you to ground level. Wynne takes you on a day to day journey of the regiment until you feel at home and then he turns to you and whispers, "The Hornet's Nest", and you understand that you've just strolled into the one bloodiest days of the war. You're at Shiloh and just been ordered to charge the Union lines. The glamour fades quickly. Men continue out of honor. 1,000 men are cut to less than 100 during the course of the war. Ordinary soldiers explain the pain of burying their boys --- "Comrades in Arms, Comrades in Death" --- on a moonlit night outside Atlanta. In Franklin, Tennessee you see them marching barefoot in the snow. My great grand uncle was there, captured and taken to Point Look Out in Maryland. Wynne gives you a glimpse of what he saw and thought. An outstanding book.

Ben Wynne's book provides the reality of the moment in 1860 -61 Mississippi. The thoughts of the men who formed the 15th Mississippi are front and center. The feelings of the communities of the righteous of the effort are there too. The ceremonies to present flags to the different units by their communities take you to ground level. Wynne takes you on a day to day journey of the regiment until you feel at home and then he turns to you and whispers, "The Hornet's Nest", and you understand that you've just strolled into the one bloodiest days of the war. You're at Shiloh and just been ordered to charge the Union lines. The glamour fades quickly. Men continue out of honor. A 1,000 men are cut to less than 100 during the course of the war. Ordinary soldiers explain the pain of burying their boys --- "Comrades in Arms, Comrades in Death" --- on a moonlit night outside Atlanta. In Franklin, Tennessee you see them marching barefoot in the snow. My great grand uncle was there, captured and taken to Point Look Out in Maryland. Wynne gives you a glimpse of what he saw and thought. An outstanding book.

First of all, the book is aptly titled. For the men of the 15th Mississippi Infantry, their journey through the war was indeed "A Hard Trip." The personal stories (and tragedies) that are told through the diaries and letters of the soldiers are by far the most endearing feature of this book. While many histories are based on these types of documents, it is the way author, Ben Wynne, places them in his narrative that makes this book unique. In addition to the material on the war years, there is also a lot of good background about the communities the men came from and the reasons they joined the army. I have never read a Civil War book quite like this. It was really fascinating and I highly recommend it. The book is very well written and I learned a lot more about the history of the state in which I live.

Although this book would probably be considered politically incorrect by the black community because it relate Collier's devotion to the South and the Confederate cause, it fills a void that's long existed in telling the true history of Mississippi's past. This book takes us through Collier's entire life from slavery through his final years in retirement when he became invisible and forgotten in the annals of history. It also does a good job in telling the story of Teddy Roosevelt bear hunt that led to the creation of the "Teddy Bear" as a result of the Nast cartoon. And it tells us that the legend that grew out of that hunt was in many ways incorrect or an oversimplification of the event.

Minor Buchanan does not approach this as a quick book project to make a few bucks by assembling a collection of anecdotes he collected around the state. He poured all his free time into research for quite a long time before even getting to the point of putting together a cogent retelling of Holt Collier's life. I've had the pleasure of knowing Minor for some years and can say that I have seen how devoted he has been to this project and how much he likes to talk about the history of this unique individual, especially things that he learned that simply couldn't be fit into the book's written word.

As a history major in college I developed a taste for the truth that can only be found in biographies. Over the years I have kept a small library in my home and under my bed to read at night, prior to retiring. The book by Mr. Buchanan is a detailed, accurate account of this man and his relationships to the men around him and his world. Being a product of the Mississippi Delta, I can see Holt Collier in the deep bayou's of the old Delta, hunting the bears. I admire the writer's style in his ability to place me there beside Holt all along the way in this book. There, in the realities of Holt's world, the reader walks his paths, thinks his thoughts, and feels the anger he feels.

Finally I would like to thank Mr. Buchanan for this effort and look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in any of the following topics: African-American History, hunting, Theodore Roosevelt, Southern History, the Civil War, and William Faulkner. As an avid Faulkner reader, I cannot help but conclude that Holt Collier is the real-life person upon which the pivotal character of Sam Fathers is based. Beyond this observation, the book is well researched and is an excellent read. You will not be disappointed. HOLT COLLIER deserves a wide audience and should be assigned reading.

Brilliantly written non-fiction biography using countless primary sources. An amazing new character never before presented to the general public. If this book had not been sent to me as a present I would have never heard of it. Apparently it has been sold only as a regional book, but I can assure any reader, it will have a national following in due course. Very highly recommended. Well worth the read. You will come away from this book thinking about it for weeks, and frankly, you will soon pick it up to read it again.

Minor Ferris Buchanan excells in this historical document of Holt Collier: an ex-slave, Confederate soldier, and excellent big-game hunter. I found the portrayal of this very accomplished individual more intriguing and inspiring than any other Afro-American biography I've ever come across (including those of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X)
I loved it!

Michael Pearson's "Imagined Places" was truly wonderful. I felt that I went along for the ride. Such great details, I didn't want it to end.

I love books and travel equally, and this book was a terrific companion on a recent trip I took around America. Reading Imagined Places was like having an interesting companion along the way. I'd recommend it also for people who don't hav the time to travel but want to hit the road imaginatively.

In this day and age when travel seems daunting, I really enjoyed this journey into the lives of famous writers and into America itself. This book was a find.

This book was a real find for me. I found it in a little bookstore in Pennsylvania. I was attracted by the cover design, a road curving into the colorful distance. The book led me to the right places: into the lives of Frost, Twain, Steinbeck, Hemingway, O'Connor, and Faulkner and into encounters with some unexpected people as well. This book is worth the trip for sure.

This great book bought me back in time...1976 the Bicenntial, when a friend and myself travled across country and visited these places that Mr.Pearson wrote about. I wish more authors could make they're words come alive the way Mr.Pearson has, Although i wish i had a little lobster with that "sunshine". All & all i throughly enjoyed it and probably will pass this on to my children...Thank you for such wonderfull reading Mr.Pearson..My hats off to you..Bravo!!