Help me read some good regional fiction please!
November 21, 2010 10:42 PM Subscribe
What are some good contemporary fiction books set in the rural US South or Appalachia?
A lot of the books I've loved over the past few years have been classics by writers from the American South (Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Robert Penn Warren) or nonfiction set in Appalachia. I am really in the mood for contemporary fiction right now, and would love to find some wonderful regional writing from these places, but I'm not sure what's good or -- in the case of Appalachian fiction -- available.
So far, I have The Collected Stories of Breece D'J Pancake on my list. What else would you recommend?
A lot of the books I've loved over the past few years have been classics by writers from the American South (Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Robert Penn Warren) or nonfiction set in Appalachia. I am really in the mood for contemporary fiction right now, and would love to find some wonderful regional writing from these places, but I'm not sure what's good or -- in the case of Appalachian fiction -- available.
So far, I have The Collected Stories of Breece D'J Pancake on my list. What else would you recommend?
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my very favorite books, is set in Appalachia.
posted by BoscosMom at 11:28 PM on November 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by BoscosMom at 11:28 PM on November 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Although it's a short read, The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole might be perfect for you. The southern setting with a touch of irony, religion, and tragedy is very O'Connor-esque.
posted by Syllables at 12:23 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by Syllables at 12:23 AM on November 22, 2010
Check out Rosanne Griffeth's blog, Smokey Mountain Breakdown, where she posts short fiction and links to other Appalachian authors.
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 2:00 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 2:00 AM on November 22, 2010
Seconding Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer. Also, while The Poisonwood Bible is not set in the south, one (possibly two) of the narrators is (are) from Georgia or Alabama (my copy is back in Pakistan or I'd check on that for you).
posted by bardophile at 3:00 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by bardophile at 3:00 AM on November 22, 2010
Donald Harington Architecture Of The Arkansas Ozarks
posted by catrae at 3:28 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by catrae at 3:28 AM on November 22, 2010
Crum: The Novel & SCREAMING WITH THE CANNIBALS by Lee Maynard
posted by jmsta at 3:47 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jmsta at 3:47 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If you have the stomach for it, I find Larry Brown's work very enjoyable. Dark, minimalist but very well-written tales of rural Mississippi folks. "Joe" features the most selfish, evil motherfucker I've encountered in fiction in years. It's pretty gritty stuff, though, so if that's not your thing, you may want to take a pass.
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:17 AM on November 22, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:17 AM on November 22, 2010 [3 favorites]
In non-fiction, Lise Funderburg's Pig Candy is a story of family, race, and barbecue in rural central GA.
Assuming you're not too scared of "genre" fiction John Hart's small town NC mystery/thrillers are really surprisingly well-written and very evocative of the place (and very reminiscent of Pat Conroy in style...hey, have you read Pat Conroy? If coastal SC is at all interesting to you, try Pat Conroy).
Margaret Maron also writes small town NC murder mysteries that are a lot of fun.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:40 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Assuming you're not too scared of "genre" fiction John Hart's small town NC mystery/thrillers are really surprisingly well-written and very evocative of the place (and very reminiscent of Pat Conroy in style...hey, have you read Pat Conroy? If coastal SC is at all interesting to you, try Pat Conroy).
Margaret Maron also writes small town NC murder mysteries that are a lot of fun.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:40 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seconding Pat Conroy (particularly "The Water Is Wide") and Dorothy Allison's "Bastard Out Of Carolina" (a tough read, but very good).
posted by sundrop at 5:58 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by sundrop at 5:58 AM on November 22, 2010
Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina.
Beat me to it.
Several of Cormack McCarthy's books are set in the south (eg Suttree). He's a contemporary writer, but the books are set in ye olde south, so I'm not sure if they are what you are looking for or not.
posted by Forktine at 6:05 AM on November 22, 2010
Beat me to it.
Several of Cormack McCarthy's books are set in the south (eg Suttree). He's a contemporary writer, but the books are set in ye olde south, so I'm not sure if they are what you are looking for or not.
posted by Forktine at 6:05 AM on November 22, 2010
Jayne Anne Phillips sets a lot of her beautiful fiction in her native West Virginia. Her newest novel Lark & Termite is supposed to be great. I like her older short stories in Black Tickets.
posted by Tylwyth Teg at 6:22 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by Tylwyth Teg at 6:22 AM on November 22, 2010
Sharyn McCrumb sets many of her books there, especially (but not, I think, exclusively) her Ballad series of mysteries.
posted by jeather at 6:29 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by jeather at 6:29 AM on November 22, 2010
The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggert by Glenn Taylor is one I just read earlier this year and takes place in Appalachia, mostly around West Virginia.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:42 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by ChuraChura at 6:42 AM on November 22, 2010
Yes to Daniel Woodrell. And to Greg Iles, not high lit, but intelligent, evocative commercial fiction.
posted by fivesavagepalms at 7:00 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by fivesavagepalms at 7:00 AM on November 22, 2010
Best answer: Padgett Powell. For a sample, listen to the awesome short story The Winnowing of Mrs Schuping.
Walker Percy died some twenty years ago, but his novel The Moviegoer is one of the works I read alongside the other authors you mentioned and it's pretty good.
For nonfiction, you might try Janisse Ray's Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, her memoir of growing up in Rural Georgia.
posted by ajarbaday at 7:01 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Walker Percy died some twenty years ago, but his novel The Moviegoer is one of the works I read alongside the other authors you mentioned and it's pretty good.
For nonfiction, you might try Janisse Ray's Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, her memoir of growing up in Rural Georgia.
posted by ajarbaday at 7:01 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Saints at the River by Ron Rash.
Cherie Priest wrote a series of books set in contemporary Chattanooga. You'll have to be tolerant of watching a writer grow, and of ghosts & zombies.
posted by motsque at 7:13 AM on November 22, 2010
Cherie Priest wrote a series of books set in contemporary Chattanooga. You'll have to be tolerant of watching a writer grow, and of ghosts & zombies.
posted by motsque at 7:13 AM on November 22, 2010
Check out Joe R. Lansdale's Hap & Leonard books. Gritty, funny and sometimes quite dark stuff set mostly in Nagodoches, Texas.
posted by Aversion Therapy at 7:25 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by Aversion Therapy at 7:25 AM on November 22, 2010
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir, so not fiction, but is extremely moving. It starts off in the american southwest, but much of the book takes place in rural West Virginia. It's a quick read, but very enjoyable.
posted by CharlieSue at 7:44 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by CharlieSue at 7:44 AM on November 22, 2010
Storming Heaven by Denise Giardina is set in southern W.Va. in the coal mines, and talks about the Battle of Blair Mountain. She has lots of other books set in similar settings as well.
posted by kerning at 9:33 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by kerning at 9:33 AM on November 22, 2010
Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith is pretty much one of my favorite books, ever. It's an epistolary novel set in Appalachia.
posted by litnerd at 10:23 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by litnerd at 10:23 AM on November 22, 2010
Maybe not what you're looking for, but Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" is set in the Appalachia/American South region (albeit a creepy post-apocalyptic American South).
posted by po822000 at 10:35 AM on November 22, 2010
posted by po822000 at 10:35 AM on November 22, 2010
This may also not be what you're looking for, due to its fantastical premise, but The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break is a surprisingly down-to-earth story of 1990s North Carolina which happens to feature as its main character a mythological monster who works as a short-order cook.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:51 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 10:51 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Is The Road set in the south? I know they're heading for the water but I guess I never thought of it as the south... or anywhere in particular really. That said, McCarthy's earlier novels are set in the South (Tennessee mostly) and his later novels are set in the Southwest.
I have to VERY highly recommend the National Book Award winner from a couple years ago: Peter Mathiessen's Shadow Country. Phenomenal book and set all over the south though the lot of it takes place in the Everglades at the turn of the century.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel by Tom Franklin is quite amazing.
posted by Siena at 11:02 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have to VERY highly recommend the National Book Award winner from a couple years ago: Peter Mathiessen's Shadow Country. Phenomenal book and set all over the south though the lot of it takes place in the Everglades at the turn of the century.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel by Tom Franklin is quite amazing.
posted by Siena at 11:02 AM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Wow, these answers are great. I'm pretty sure Harry Crews, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Larry Brown fit what I was looking for exactly, but my reading list (of books AND authors) has gotten way bigger. Thank you so much!
posted by houndsoflove at 2:21 PM on November 22, 2010
posted by houndsoflove at 2:21 PM on November 22, 2010
Cold Sassy Tree, and its sequel, Leaving Cold Sassy
posted by invisible ink at 4:23 PM on November 22, 2010
posted by invisible ink at 4:23 PM on November 22, 2010
I really enjoy the novels by Fannie Flagg, all set in the Southeast. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe is her best known. She is a slim volume that is hood for this time of year called Redbird Christmas that is set in a small, lovely Alabama town, right on the banks of a river, and the flora, fauna, river, and pleasant winter weather are significant aspects of the book.
posted by Ellemeno at 2:27 AM on November 23, 2010
posted by Ellemeno at 2:27 AM on November 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scody at 10:47 PM on November 21, 2010