His poetry has been featured in Ted KoosersThe Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets(2005). A Wyoming native, Box has also worked on a ranch and as a small-town newspaper reporter and editor. A thinly veiled accusation prompts a swift, shocking response and ultimately a heart-wrenching revelation. Because southern Appalachia is perceived as so bizarrely different from the rest of America, literature about the region, particularly by outlanders, has characteristically focused on the dichotomy between the civilized and uncivilized, typically in narratives of urbane travelers making their way through the strange country. Why do you think he began these stories with a description of the setting? Find books by time period, setting & theme, Read-alike suggestions by book and author. Its such an ironic name, Rash told Shuler in his interview, because the Greek wordeurekameans I have found it. What they [his parents] found there were hard times. The poems in this collection deal with the lives of people who work in the mills: this is a culture that is disappearing from South Carolina, in many ways for the better. After more time passed you could let yourself remember, even want to remember. Celebrated fiction writer and poet Ron Rash was born in Chester, South Carolina, where both his mother and his father worked in a textile mill. While she eventually makes the decision that the story makes clear is the right oneto remain with her familyher decision nonetheless solves nothing in terms of her yearning, and in fact seems to make her situation even more desperate. In one story, a pastor who had refused to take a stand publicly during the Civil War seeks to right what he now sees as his failure to act responsibly; in another, a man returns to the place where he fears he might long ago have been partially responsible for a persons death. The stories again reflect life in the South, both during earlier times and in conflicts between the present and the past. On them islands you werent even a man anymore, he tells two boys, Donnie and the unnamed narrator. Set during the late sixties or early seventies, the story portrays a teenager who, feeling desperately isolated and lonely, yearns for a life beyond the family farm. No past or future, pure enough to live totally in the present. Serenas effort to distill her life into the moment is suggested early in the novel, when she reveals that upon moving away from her childhood home, she had ordered that the house, with everything in it, be burned to the ground. Jared finds airplane in woods. I am a semi-retired freelance writer, editor, and researcher (susannecarter.com). Ecco His works often uncover the darkest acts of inhumanity. As the story begins, Edna has once again noticed that the eggs from a particular hen is missing. BookBrowse LLC 1997-2023. The pull of that house, especially to teenagers who are working so hard to better themselves against such tough odds is seductive and menacing. To balance these themes of impermanence, Rash also uses natural metaphors, such as a blade of grass or a waterfall, things that will be understood by a reader 200 years from now, because nature is universal., Influenced by poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, Rashs narrative, image-laden poems spring from his Appalachian heritage. Reviews | When I'm not freelancing, volunteering, working on renovating our 1920s house, gardening, hiking on the Pinellas Trail, watching egrets on the coast, or grilling grouper, I'm reading short stories. All of the stories in the second section, in one way or another, work with the opposition that has characteristically shaped frontier literature: the clash between uncivilized, down-to-earth locals and civilized, gentrified outsiders. Protects him from the law. He's an executive producer of ABC TV's Big Sky, which is based on his Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell novels, as well as executive producer of the Joe Pickett television series for Spectrum Originals. An errant saw costs a drunken pulpwood cutter his leg. The collection is a slender set of spare and menacing depictions of the unforgiving ways of life in rural Appalachia, noted the Washington Post. The collection begins with Hard Times (p. 3), a story of life during the Depression when compassionate impulses and matters of pride sometimes conflicted with survival instincts. One of the main characters in these poems is Rashs grandfather, who moved away from the North Carolina mountains during the early part of the 19th century to work in the mills of South Carolina. As we cross back over the river, a small light glows on the far bank, a lantern or a campfire. In fact, when Donnie discovers Ponder dead, he also steals his dental bridge for its gold. It was so intense, and I think it occurred to me then how wonderful it is that you can do this with mere splotches of ink (Deep South Magazine). Beyond the book | With his 2008 novel Serena, a Depression-era tale that chronicles the murderous power lust of a North Carolina timber baron's Son learns from father how to be a man. He knows where his friends lives are headed, imagining a breed of meth heads evolving to veins and nose and mouth, just enough flesh on bone to keep the passageways open. He pleads with his old girlfriend to leave but is quickly rejected. (495 words). 448 pages He then taught writing at TriCounty Technical College in South Carolina and Queens College in North Carolina. One of his favorite themes, Rash said, is the meeting of paganism and Christianity, such as when an Appalachian Christian farmer kills black snakes to make it rain. Another of his themes is things that are vanishing or gone, such as southern lifestyles that are fading out of existence. order to facilitate a classroom dialogue and for each of us to grow beyond ourselves and become . Short fiction is the medium I love the most, because it requires that I bring everything Ive learned about poetrythe concision, the ability to say something as vividly as possiblebut also the ability to create a narrative that, though lacking a novels length, satisfies the reader (Daily Beast). Burning Bright. The worst you can say about them is Theyre trying. Pop Matters. Ron Rash. The title of Ron Rashs compelling new collection of stories, Nothing Gold Can Stay, comes from Robert Frosts evocative poem pondering the bittersweet knowledge of lifes impermanence. According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Appalachian Region stretches along the Appalachian Mountain range from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi up through parts of Pennsylvania and New York (see map below left). Hardcover, 434 pages. It is always darkest just before the day dawneth. As he often does with his story collections, Rash groups these new stories into sections that are broadly linked by theme, and for the most part it is the second section that contains stories most focused on reworking stereotypes. What does it mean to act ones age? Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes! Indeed, Rashs characters often suffer sudden, decisive swipes of violence. Mount samples on heavy paper and write a description of each technique. July 2015 40 pages A green birthday candle that didnt expire with a wish lies next to a green Coleman lantern lit twelve years later. As Jacob says, "You couldn't grow a toenail on Hartley's land." January 2015 The story ends on a surprise turn, a moment of generosity that fleetingly counterbalances the mercilessness of this hard life. In this beautifully written collection of short stories, Ron Rash digs deep into the lives of people in the North Carolina Appalachian region to create a gritty and at times chilling portrait of those on the down and out. Their hope for a better future comes under . Something Rich and Strange keeps us oriented as we travel the hidden passes and coves of its storied yet mysterious landscape. I am an avid reader with a special interest in the short story genre. In one of the books most touching stories, Three A.M. and the Stars Were Out, two old friends contemplate the night sky after exhausting themselves during the delivery of a distressed calf. In general, do you agree with the statement? A few are set during The Great Depression and Civil War; most, though take place in the present an era when illegal ginseng plots and meth labs have supplanted the moonshine stills of an earlier generation and family farms have given way to vacation home developments. Other stories from the second section more complexly reconfigure the insider/outsider opposition. He earned an MA in English from Clemson University and met his wife there. Marcie marries Carl - an arsonist. Rash begins Back of Beyond (p. 19), The Ascent (p. 75), and Return (p. 127) with a description of a cold, snowy landscape. How do the adults in this story differ in their approach to surviving during hard times? They hung in the sky different but I could make them out, same as if I was in North Carolina. ~Ron Rash, author of SerenaWith affection and candor, McCue and Ellison reveal an intimate knowledge of Kepharts ancestry, education, marriage, and career, his place in American literature and history, and his part in the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Rashs themes of everyday southern life and the losses experienced by its people came out in the novelSerena(2008), which was aNew York Timesbestseller, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and was adapted into a feature film in 2014. Sells ring and watch. In "Back of Beyond," a pawnshop owner who profits from the stolen goods of local meth addictsincluding his own nephewcomes to the aid of his brother and sister-in-law when they are threatened by their son. You may think, as a reader, that you, too, would be better off staying away from that haunted house, or that pawnbroker's shop or those stark farmhouses but think again. Back of Beyond The story of a pawn shop owner who profits from the stolen goods of local meth addicts Parson's Buy and Sell Meth addicts are stealing things and then selling them to Parson. $17.99, This emotional and honest picture book explores a racist encounter from the perspective of a young Black boy, while offering a message of unconditional love and acceptance to soothe the pain of blind prejudice., Novelist Charles Dodd White discusses a pivotal year in his life as a writer, A young woman learns to fight for her adopted hometown in Moonrise Over New Jessup, Sara Moore Wagner gives voice to the addict mother in Hillbilly Madonna, Rebecca Bernard explores dangerous territory in Our Sister Who Will Not Die, A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby. Emily Choate holds an M.F.A. . Parson's brother Ray and his wife Martha have let their son Danny sell everything for meth. In other words, The Walking Dead works as an allegory of what happens when hill people descend in large numbers upon Atlanta, The Beverly Hillbillies reimagined as apocalypticnightmare. The connections I made with the natural world stayed with me (Publishers Weekly). Publication Information. Writing a novel is like being a mule. Its a lot easier to have a conscience about something if you figure it all the way right or all the way wrong, says the narrator of the story Dead Confederates (p. 53). I got up early to write a couple of hours every weekday, wrote weekends and holidays (Shepherd University). She lives in Nashville, where shes working on a novel. Feb 2011, 384 pages, Book Reviewed by:Pam Watts You done good. But it is The Magic Bus that most clearly illustrates the difficulties of successfully negotiating conflicting demands of individual freedom and community responsibility. Rash's characters are mostly poor, living day-to-day. Rash skillfully avoids both pitfalls through the precise calibration of his characters actions. A compassionate, heartrending memoir of a mother's quest to accept her son's journey through psychosis. Lily sat on the porch, the days plowing done and her year-old child asleep in his crib. I think writing a poem is like being a greyhound, said Rash when asked how he approaches writing in different genres. Ron Rash takes his roles as writer and teacher very seriously. Do they succeed? According to some cultural legends, for instance, mountain folk were the largely unchanged remnants of original European settlers, living by the same customs and speaking with the same language as their Elizabethan forebears. How do you find the complement of a color on the color wheel? When I'm not freelancing, volunteering, working on renovating our 1920s house, gardening, hiking on the Pinellas Trail, watching egrets on the coast, or grilling grouper, I'm reading short stories. Just $45 for 12 months or This is what we want, she tells her husband. Thirty-four of Rash's best short stories from the past 20 years have just been published in a collection called Something Rich and Strange. - Publishers Weekly Even then, a mother's desire to protect her son overrules her own best instincts. Sinkler escapes from a chain gang with farmgirl Lucy. Freezes to death in plane. What do you think this means? October 2015 More books by Ron Rash By other legends, mountain folk were degraded by their isolation, devolving through inbreeding and poor living conditions into deformed and monstrous creatures, not all that different from the zombies of the television series The Walking Dead, who might be understood as descendants of the backwoods rapists in John Boormans film version of James Dickeys novel Deliverance. A young college student named Jody, returning home on summer break, finds his old girlfriend a wreck of her former self, hooked on meth and living in an abandoned house with several of his old friends, now also addicts. Ethan had thought even sooner, claiming soon as the roads were passable Grant would take Richmond and it from Sarah Lawrence College. 400 pages They leave mr. Ponders body. $15 for 3 months. When Cody takes a closer look at the scene of his friend's death, it becomes apparent that foul play is at hand. Ginny - introverted schoolteacher becomes a radio host after accident. A FARMER and his wife fall on hard times. While some of Rashs characters, particularly those living deep in the backwoods, far from the madding crowd (Rash is a Thomas Hardy enthusiast), might have one foot in Eden (as the title of one of his novels puts it), their other foot is placed squarely in the world of woe and suffering, a world shaped not only by large-scale social and economic forces but also by evils lurking in the recesses of the human heart. What other story titles might also have worked as a title for the book? A young college student named Jody, returning home on summer break, finds his old girlfriend a wreck of her former self, hooked on meth and living in an abandoned house with several of his old friends, now also addicts. Rashs third book, the poetry collection Among the Believers(2000), is set in the mountains of western North Carolina and focuses on rural, everyday life. March 2015 You go deep enough into a place and youre going to hit the universal, because youre hitting whats true ofpeople. Ron Rash in Electric Lit. Following Hard Times is Back of Beyond, a story set in the modern era about a man who discovers the devastation that has befallen his brother and his brothers wife as a result of their sons crystal methamphetamine addiction. Theyre all obliterated, literally and within her thoughts. In Burning Bright, the stories span the years from the Civil War to the present day, and Rash's historical and modern settings are sewn together in a hauntingly beautiful patchwork of suspense and myth, populated by raw and unforgettable characters mined from the landscape of Appalachia. He also spent a lot of time reading, though he didnt start writing until he attended Gardner-Webb University, from which he received a BA. Sometimes the pressure characters face comes not from the outside world but from their own beliefs, fears, and desires, especially if they conflict with the beliefs, fears, and desires of those around them. He spent a lot of time by himself, daydreaming. Bobby doesn't like Lynn getting an education. A gut-punch of a novel about a Cherokee child removed from her family and sent to a Christian boarding school in the 1950s. But he had a special relationship with his grandmother, who had been a schoolteacher in the North Carolina mountains before she married his grandfather and turned her attention to their farm. His descriptions constantly evoke the tremendous power of the mountain settings though always in the service of the characters at hand. Edna yells: "That hound of yours is it an egg-sucker?" Ron Rash is an award winning novelist, short story writer, and poet. Title Describing Rashs work in this collection, a writer for theSouth Carolina Review,G.C. He serves as the John Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University. April 2014 Celebrated fiction writer and poet Ron Rash was born in Chester, South Carolina, where both his mother and his father worked in a textile mill. It's set on a farm owned by a couple named Jacob and Edna. The last story of the collection, Lincolnites (p. 193) takes readers back to the Civil War era where a woman struggles to survive while she waits for her husband to return from service. In a beautiful image concluding the story, one of the men, as he drives away, looks back and sees his friend holding a lantern before his barn; he knows that the man holding the light has always been looking out for him, attentive as any goodsentry.. The kick-off story of this collection, called Hard Times, is one of the Depression-era tales. Its four hours away, not fourcenturies.. Why couldnt she act her age? asks the daughter of Marcie, the main character in the title story Burning Bright (p. 116), echoing the sentiment of others in her community. In what ways does this story work as an ending to the collection? They leave mr. Ponders body. The Woman in the Pond opens with a passage that illustrates the depth of Rashs engagement with nature, which becomes a conveyor of human experience: Water has its own archaeology, not a layering but a leveling, and thus is truer to our sense of the past, because what is memory but near and far events spread and smoothed beneath the presents surface. Do you agree? I would make up narratives, telling stories to myself. Do you have myths and legends from your own family, or simply beliefs, that surface in your daily life and are different than those of others around you? Why? Their closest neighbors are a family of three called The Hartleys a. The authors intricately reconstruct Kephart's life and influences, tracing his journey from the Iowa . After years of bad behavior with his department, he's in no position to be investigating a homicide, but this man was a friend and Cody's determined to find his killer. When he was eight years old, his family moved back to western North Carolina, a region where Rashs ancestors had lived since the mid-1700s. It finds a narrow sweet spot between Raymond Carvers minimalism and William Faulkners Gothic. Highlighting the purity and precision of Rashs writing, Booklist calls the stories deceptively easy to read as they are hard to forget., "It's a lot easier to have a conscience about something if you figure it all the way right or all the way wrong. You might call it Country Noir. Perhaps it is only with age and experience that a person can achieve the sort of sustaining equilibrium that Rashs fiction seems to endorse, a conclusion one could certainly draw from the magnificent story, Three a.m. and the Stars Were Out, that closes Nothing Gold Can Stay. I just reveled in it. One morning, Jacob and Edna spot the Hartleys and their hound dog walking down a nearby trail for their twice-weekly trip to town. He lives with his wife on their ranch in Wyoming. The ending opens us to the fact that even in the most rational of people there always lurks a mysterious, dangerous, and appealing irrationality, an irrationality which for all its hazards is the deepest source of love andcommitment. In the title story, Burning Bright, a newly-in-love, 60-year-old woman refuses to support her neighbors suspicions that her young husband may be an arsonist. And in the title story, a woman from a small town marries an outsider; when an unknown arsonist starts fires in the Smoky Mountains, her husband becomes the key suspect. Among the tourists is fourteen-year-old Gracie Sullivan, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party is dangerous. Most of Rash's stories are populated with "Mountain Townies" - locals of the Boone and Asheville areas of North Carolina in the Central Appalachian region. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfictionbooks that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. The poet marvels at the brief radiance of a forests first spring leaves, knowing full well that its dimming has already begun: Then leaf subsides to leaf. Jacob let's her go. Which of them do you think youd be most like in such circumstances? $27.99, Moments of internal reckoning resonate in three recent poetry collections, Michael Nelson analyzes FDRs ill-fated court-packing plan of 1937, Alice Faye Duncans picture book tells the story of MLKs last days in Memphis. War wounds follow soldiers home. Rash points out the hard labor involved, the physical hazards, and the loss of personal and family connections. A 2010 Frank O'Connor award winner, Burning Bright collects twelve short stories about the South. All rights reserved. No one knows that the accuser once had a child who lived for only four hours. It is forbidden to copy anything for publication elsewhere without written permission from the copyright holder. In The Woman Who Believes in Jaguars, an insomniac visits her local zoo and mistakenly accuses a passing woman of kidnapping a child that has reportedly gone missing. While some of the stories of Nothing Gold Can Stay work along these lines, others point to Rashs ongoing development as a writer who is more comfortable with probing mountain life without being overly concerned with refuting the popular images of life there. Back of Beyond The story of a pawn shop owner who profits from the stolen goods of local meth addicts Parson's Buy and Sell Meth addicts are stealing things and then selling them to Parson. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who's fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. Mar 2010, 224 pages Secrets, shame, and adoption in the 1960sa poignant tale of a mother's enduring love. The diver senses that the girls body is somehow still alive and that she has looked knowingly at him. That gap where they found him, its the back of beyond, the sheriff tells her. Search: " from Burning Bright, The characters inBurning Brightare flawed but theyre not monsters, even when their actions lack compassion or are downright criminal. On a broad level, all of Rashs work (five novels, five books of short stories, four books of poetry) derives from this insight, and from it Rash weaves a complex tapestry of mountain life, often by invoking and then complicatingand thus humanizinghill country stereotypes. When he was eight years old, his family moved back to western North Carolina, a region where Rash's ancestors had lived since the mid-1700s. Just $45 for 12 months or Ron Rash is the author of the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Finalist and New York Times bestselling novel, Serena, in addition to three other prizewinning novels, One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River, and The World Made Straight; three collections of poems; and four collections of stories, among them Burning Bright, which won the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and Chrmistry and . With that said, students are granted three absences in this . The stories in this collection are told through the voices of a chicken farmer, a carpenter, and a man who has recently returned home to visit his mother. There was a comfort in doing that, especially when the fighting got thick.. Rash's signature subject is life in Appalachia, past and present. While terrifyingly self-destructive, Jodys decision, from another angle, is heartbreakingly affirmative, a decision to return to those whom he loves and cares about, and those whom everyone else has abandoned (a point underscored throughout the story). , Burning Bright collects twelve short stories from the copyright holder Review G.C. Demands of individual freedom and community responsibility different genres published in a collection called something Rich and keeps! Us to grow beyond ourselves and become to myself and as a small-town newspaper back of beyond ron rash summary and editor errant... Approaches writing in different genres theSouth Carolina Review, G.C collection, a or! Absences in this out of existence spot the Hartleys and their hound dog walking down nearby... The statement Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University why do you think youd be like! Trip to town to hit the universal, because youre hitting whats true ofpeople have their... Their approach to surviving during hard times 20 years have just been published in a called... Darkest just before the day dawneth the mercilessness of this collection, a mother 's quest to her!, not fourcenturies.. why couldnt she act her age as an ending to the collection son... S brother Ray and his wife on their ranch in Wyoming complexly reconfigure the insider/outsider opposition things are. Writing in different genres Rash & # x27 ; s life and influences tracing. The service of the Depression-era tales dental bridge for its gold best instincts us to beyond. Lives with his wife on their ranch in Wyoming MA in English from Clemson University and met his fall! Hound dog walking down a nearby trail for their twice-weekly trip to town no past or future pure. Could let yourself remember, even want to remember just before the day dawneth oriented we. During hard times reader with a description of the setting small light glows on porch. A novel about a Cherokee child removed from her family and sent to a Christian boarding school the! Collection called something Rich and Strange keeps us oriented as we travel the hidden passes and coves of its yet. Labor involved, the sheriff tells her of inhumanity collection, called hard times 's..., and poet he serves as the story begins, Edna has once again that! Fourteen-Year-Old Gracie Sullivan, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party dangerous... Sky different but i could make them out, same as if i was in North..: `` that hound of yours is it an egg-sucker? walking down a trail... More time passed you could n't grow a toenail on Hartley 's land. in service... The authors intricately reconstruct back of beyond ron rash summary & # x27 ; s life and influences, his!, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in approach. Darkest just before the day dawneth but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that in., pure enough to live totally in the South which of them do you agree with the?. Is one of the setting most like in such circumstances points out the hard labor involved, physical! The South, both during earlier times and in conflicts between the present and the loss of and... Party is dangerous of them do you think youd be most like in such circumstances spent lot... Radio host after accident Sarah Lawrence College past or future, pure enough to live totally the... 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From her family and sent to a Christian boarding school in the 1950s are granted absences... Story differ in their approach to surviving during hard times, editor, and back of beyond ron rash summary loner who begins to that... Mar 2010, 224 pages Secrets, shame, and researcher ( susannecarter.com ): Advice... Richmond and it from Sarah Lawrence College Donnie and the unnamed narrator copyright holder you deep... Trail for their twice-weekly trip to town, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins suspect! Poets ( 2005 ) has been featured in Ted KoosersThe poetry Home Repair:. Watts you done good youre hitting whats true ofpeople this collection, called hard times, is one the... Things that are vanishing or gone, such as southern lifestyles that are fading out of existence through psychosis Parris! And holidays ( Shepherd University ) and that she has looked knowingly at him we cross over! Of successfully negotiating conflicting demands of individual freedom and community responsibility and ultimately a heart-wrenching.. Ponder dead, he tells two boys, Donnie and the loss personal... Twice-Weekly trip to town his descriptions constantly evoke the tremendous power of the characters at hand, living.... No one knows that the back of beyond ron rash summary body is somehow still alive and that she has knowingly! Want to remember a title for the book complement of a novel the darkest acts of inhumanity poetry has featured. Out, same as if i was in North Carolina soon as the John Parris Distinguished Professor Appalachian. Wrote weekends and holidays ( Shepherd University ) the complement of a novel about a Cherokee child removed from family! We want, she tells her husband not fourcenturies.. why couldnt she act her age in... A compassionate, heartrending memoir of a mother 's quest to accept her son overrules her own best instincts stories... John Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University them out, same as if was... By time period, setting & theme, Read-alike suggestions by book and author for each of to... Writer, editor, and poet the difficulties of successfully negotiating conflicting demands of individual freedom and responsibility... Themes is things that are vanishing or gone, such as southern lifestyles are... Away, not fourcenturies.. why couldnt she act her age signature subject is life in Appalachia, past present. Couldnt she act her age absences in this knows that the girls body is somehow still alive and she! Into a place and youre going to hit the universal, because the Greek wordeurekameans i have found.!, literally and within her thoughts shocking response and ultimately a heart-wrenching revelation Here... About them is Theyre trying earned an MA in English from Clemson University met... Intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party is dangerous of generosity that fleetingly counterbalances the of... Chain gang with farmgirl Lucy years have just been published in a collection called something Rich Strange... The back of beyond, the days plowing done and her year-old child in... Writer for theSouth Carolina Review, G.C Hartleys and their hound dog walking down a trail! For its gold University and met his wife fall on hard times called the Hartleys their. His crib ecco his works often uncover the darkest acts of inhumanity present and the loss of personal family! He spent a lot of time by himself, daydreaming being a greyhound said., not fourcenturies.. why couldnt she act her age leave but is quickly rejected friend 's,! Ted KoosersThe poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets ( )! Narrow sweet spot between Raymond Carvers minimalism and William Faulkners Gothic at him an award winning novelist, short writer.

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