The Rough South discussion

I am currently listening to Fey by Larry Brown. I absolutely love this book. It is gritty, raw and obscene. I read it a while ago, and recently decided to listen to it on audio. Listening to it makes me feel as if this is the first time I am hearing this story. Highly recommended book and audiobook.

The Devil All the time - Donald Ray Pollock

Quickly becoming my new favorite

Just read Penhally (Southern Classics Series by Caroline Gordon, a modernist novel from the 1930's about the Civil War and Reconstructionist south. It's been completely overshadowed by the work of Faulkenr and then "Gone with the Wind" published in the same decade. It seems to have the interior monologue ideas of Virginia Woolf moreso than Faulkner's Freudianism.

But Gordon would go on to mentor Flannery O'Connor, so her psychological bent on the South is not totally unforgotten.

Justyna wrote: "I am currently listening to Fey by Larry Brown. I absolutely love this book. It is gritty, raw and obscene. I read it a while ago, and recently decided to listen to it on audio. Listening to it m..."

I remember this was my first Larry Brown novel. I was knocked out by how great it was. But that was years ago and I want to go back and re-read it.

Justyna wrote: "I am currently listening to Fey by Larry Brown. I absolutely love this book. It is gritty, raw and obscene. I read it a while ago, and recently decided to listen to it on audio. Listening to it m..."

I love that book so much!

Eric wrote: "The Devil All the time - Donald Ray Pollock

Quickly becoming my new favorite"

that book is crazy! THanks Eric

Check out his short story collection "Knockemstiff"

Downright diabolical, and really cohesive..

Fay is one of my favorites by Larry Brown!

Eric wrote: "Check out his short story collection "Knockemstiff"

Downright diabolical, and really cohesive.."

Just read Knockemstiff. It might be set in Ohio, but it's first rate Southern Gothic Grotesque all the way. Great stuff.

Also on my Rough South read list in the last few months, Tomato Red: A Novel by Daniel Woodrell. 5 *'s as, I am finding, is most of Woodrell.

Pollock is one of my latest favorites. I can't wait to see what he'll do next. I agree that the locale he writes may not be in the South but he seems to be writing pretty firmly in the tradition.

My favorite Woodrell book is The Death of Sweet Mister. I don't want to give anything away but after you finish that book you will be blown away.

Wow you guys were right About Woodrell, thanks for the suggestion. It sure made the long winter evenings pass much faster. Nick wrote: "Eric wrote: "Check out his short story collection "Knockemstiff"

Downright diabolical, and really cohesive.."

Just read Knockemstiff. It might be set in Ohio, but it's first rate Southern Gothic ..."

Glad you liked him. As far as "grit lit" goes that story collection by Bonnie Jo Campbell "American Salvage" is also incredible in my view--if you haven't read it yet.

Matthew Jones "A Single Shot." Very much a grit lit pick!

My intro to Woodrell was "Outlaw Album". Just started "Bayou Trilogy". Check out Alex Taylor's collection "The Name of The Nearest River" if you are a fan of Woodrell, Pollock, or Larry Brown. - RJ

I've got to get my hands on A Single Shot.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt- feels like Cormac McCarthy, with elements of Sergio Leone(sp). Not brilliant, but damn solid

I actually liked "The Sisters Brothers" quite a bit... quirky and rough. DeWitt has the ability to change styles pretty dramatically as well try out "Ablutions: Notes for a novel" Almost Bukowskish...

"A Bullet for Cinderella," one of John D. MacDonald's earlier hard-boiled stories. "Fay" (discussed above) is an awesome novel, but I prefer the term "redneck noir" to "grit lit." EIther way, the world is emptier without Larry Brown.

The Painted bird.

We Need To Talk About Kevin, along with The Orchard Keeper.

The Collected Short Stories of Harriette Simpson Arnow. Wow! Many of these were never even published. Some she published under a male family member's name. Glad someone finally printed them.

Justyna wrote: "Wow you guys were right About Woodrell, thanks for the suggestion. It sure made the long winter evenings pass much faster. Nick wrote: "Eric wrote: "Check out his short story collection "Knockemsti..."

Check out Matt Dillon reading On the road. Amazing.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

"The Wettest County in the World" by Matt Bondurant
Really quite good. About bootleggers in Virginia in the 30's

Just finished Rivers, by Michael Farris Smith, a Mississippi author. I might call it sci fi? -- the Gulf Coast is so battered by hurricanes the government abandons it. Those who remain have to survive on their own.

Eric wrote: "Check out his short story collection "Knockemstiff"

Downright diabolical, and really cohesive.."

A hell of a ride! Thanks for the recommendation

Last days of the Dog-Men by Brad Watson. Good so far.

Wrote Luke's Run ... at Amazon ... Long term Harry Crews student.

Brad Watson is a great choice a Meridian MS native, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer with Aliens In the Prime of their Lives the year the Board overrode the selection committee and didn't award the prize for that year.

I'm reading GRIT LIT--A Rough South Reader, edited by Brian Carpenter and Tom Franklin. It's a really good anthology with stories by Allison, Brown, Gautreaux, Gay, Hannah, Smith and others I've recently discovered.

B.L. wrote: "The Collected Short Stories of Harriette Simpson Arnow. Wow! Many of these were never even published. Some she published under a male family member's name. Glad someone finally printed them."

I didn't recognize her name until I read on Amazon that she's the author of THE DOLLMAKER. I loved that book back when I first read it years ago. The movie wasn't bad, either. Will definitely check out her short stories. Thanks for the recommendation.

Sailor and Lula by Barry Gifford. I'm a country Boy from Virginia. Many of Giffords characters seem like old friends of mine. There is none crazier than "Country Crazy". Add some shine and girls and guns and somebody's gonna get scuffed up. Man I miss roaming those Blue Ridge Mountains.

Am reading Rebel Yell ... a book on Stonewall Jackson . and Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I wrote Luke's Run.

Hi guys! Just joined the group, and kind of sad to see that there isn't much activity here right now.

Anyways, I'm reading Absalom, Amsalom! by Faulkner now. I didn't know anything about the writing style before I started, and nearly gave up on page 2. But I kept on and the book is about to become the best thing I've read in years.

English isn't my native tongue, so the book is a real challenge vocabulay wise. I have to look up many of the words and write them down. But it's worth it! :)

This Dark Road to Mercy--I don't think this is a very active group though so probably falls on deaf ears.

James wrote: "This Dark Road to Mercy--I don't think this is a very active group though so probably falls on deaf ears."

My ears are listening! What do you think of the book?

I actually really enjoyed it even though it kind of like grit lit pg. Wiley Cash can really write, well enough where it's easy to forgive a plot that doesn't really have any "oh my God" moments and a little too much coincidence. I will definitely be reading his first novel, but am now reading Swamplandia!

How about you?

Greetings, all. Just recently joined in the hopes of finding some good recommendations for undiscovered talent. I am a Southern boy transplanted north (Philadelphia).

I read southern lit to remain connected to my roots, and even wrote my own southern action adventure fiction (Hurricane Ron, Second Wind Publishing, 978-1-63066-170-0). Just finished Go Set a Watchman and have mixed feelings on that. Recently reread Faulkner and Groom. Big fan of McCammon.

I've got go set a watchman on deck. Heard about the same thing.

I see "Knockemstiff" and "The Devil all the Time" here several times. They're a couple of my favorites. Something similar that I enjoyed just as much is "Crum" by Lee Maynard. Going to read "Fey" next.

I have Fey on my to read list, need to add Crum. I just finished a land more kind than home and am now on Mystic River, not really grit lit but somehow I hadn't read it yet.