Download or read book The Fred Chappell Reader written by Fred Chappell and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 1990-08-15 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This sampling of the author's work includes a complete novel, "Dagon", substantial portions of four other novels, several short stories, and poems culled from eleven volumes

Download or read book I Am One of You Forever written by Fred Chappell and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 1987-07-01 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wonderfully funny and also deeply touching, I Am One of You Forever is the story of a young boy's coming of age. Set in the hills and hollows of western North Carolina in the years around World War II, it tells of ten-year-old Jess and his family -- father, mother, grandmother, foster brother, and an odd assortment of other relatives -- who usher Jess into the adult world, with all its attendant joys and sorrows, knowledge and mystery. Jess's father is feisty, restless, and fun-loving. His mother is straitlaced and serious but accepts with grace and good humor the antics of the men of the family, a trait she learned from her own mother. Johnson Gibbs is the orphaned teenager who comes to live with them on their mountain farm. Life on the laurel-covered mountain is isolated and at times difficult, but for Jess it is made rich and remarkable through his relationship with his father and, especially, Johnson Gibbs. Visiting the farm from time to time is a gallery of eccentric relatives who are surely among the most memorable creations in recent fiction. Uncle Luden is a womanizer who left the mountains years ago for a job in California that "paid actual cash money." Uncle Gurton has a spooky way of appearing and disappearing without ever seeming to enter or exit, but it is his flowing beard, which he has apparently never trimmed and which he keeps tucked inside his overalls, that is of most fascination to Jess. Uncle Zeno is a storyteller. With the words "That puts me in mind of..." everyone around knows that he is about to launch into another of his endless tales. Uncle Runkin, who always brings his handmade coffin to sleep in whenever he visits, spends his time carving intricate designs into the coffin and trying to find just the right epitaph for his tombstone. Aunt Samantha Barefoot stops by for a brief spell, too. A country singer and cousin to Jess's grandmother, she is a woman of uncensored speech (Jess learns a lot from her) and honest emotions. Chappell tells the story of all of these characters in a series of chapters that range from fantasy and near farce to pathos. As notable for its lyrical descriptions of the rural settings as for its finely honed vernacular dialogue, I Am One of You Forever shows us a world full of wit and wisdom and the sadness at the heart of things. As one would expect from a poet like Fred Chappell, every line offers its own pleasures and satisfactions.

Download or read book Look Back All the Green Valley written by Fred Chappell and published by Picador. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last in the Kirkman family cycle by one of our most treasured writers In Look Back All the Green Valley, Jess Kirkman returns to the North Carolina mountain town of his boyhood to be with his ailing mother and finally settle the family's accounts after the death of his father ten years ago. Cleaning out his father's secret work room reunites him with the irrepressible Joe Kirkman and leads him to make new discoveries--in the dusty room he finds an unusual machine made of stovepipe and ceramic, and a handwritten map. These clues lead him to uncover a part of his father's history he never knew. Rich in the story telling traditions of Southern Appalachia, Fred Chappell's magical novel celebrates a way of life that has passed. Look Back All the Green Valley follows Chappell's three previous novels--Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You, Brighten the Corner Where You Are, and I'm Am One of You Forever--and concludes one of the most rewarding cycles of novels in recent memory.

Download or read book Brighten the Corner Where You Are written by Fred Chappell and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brighten the Corner Where You Are is the riveting story of a day in the life of Joe Robert Kirkman, a North Carolina mountain schoolteacher, sly prankster, country philosopher, and family man. This novel from award-winning author Fred Chappell has won the hearts of readers and reviewers across the country.

Download or read book Farewell I m Bound to Leave You written by Fred Chappell and published by Picador. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You is rich with the music of the Southern mountains and the stories of their people. In this novel from acclaimed author Fred Chappell, Jess Kirkman's grandmother is dying, and Jess remembers the tales she and his mother have passed down to him--a chorus of women's voices that sing and share and celebrate the common song of life.

Download or read book Backsass written by Fred Chappell and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of humorous and satiric verse takes its title from that thoroughly southern term meaning irreverent retort, ironic remark, or scoffing observation. The ancient Roman poet Juvenal noted that his world made it hard not to write satire. Fred Chappell, finding his contemporary era analogous to that of imperial Rome, has in Backsass given in to the impulse for invective and mockery. The aim of satirists is to improve the moral tenor of society, and they approach this goal by first causing us to laugh at ourselves. Brandishing his lexical sword, Chappell ribs our shortcomings, offers tonic advice, and occasionally sheds a tear for our fallen ideals. Some poetry is fine wine. Backsass is the driest of martinis.

Download or read book More Shapes Than One written by Fred Chappell and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These thirteen tales are populated by an assortment of fictional as well as real characters, all of them vividly sketched and true-to-life: the botanist Linnaeus, the composer Offenbach, the poet Hart Crane, the visionary horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, a southern sheriff, a dealer in rare books, a country singer, an old maid (and her suitor), and a mathematician. Whether these stories are deemed disquieting, comic, prophetic, or tall in the telling, they show us worlds where the truth reveals itself in many shapes. Throughout the writings comprising More Shapes Than One, Fred Chappell's storytelling magic transforms the commonplace.

Download or read book Ancestors and Others written by Fred Chappell and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2009-10-27 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancestors and Others collects selected stories from the legendary southern writer, Fred Chappell In this collection, Fred Chappell shows his mastery across a range of genres. Featuring folk fables in the Twain tradition, realistic stories of growing up in remote Appalachia, stories of family, kin, and community, and tales of the fantastic and spooky, this book will delight fans and surprise new readers.

Download or read book The Inkling written by Fred Chappell and published by Bitingduck Press LLC. This book was released on 2003 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Inkling by Fred Chappell is, says the New York Times, A work of genuine talentOC . Chappell writes with power and passion and with flashes of humor. This early novel of Chappell's takes sixteen-year-old Jan to where we often try to goOCothe place where all is right just before it goes wrong. The novel begins and ends with Jan's vision in just that place and with his searing pain of ignorance and failure. Chappell gives us characters for tragedy: a mother, bereaved and weak; her two children, a retarded older girl and, in contrast, a bright younger boy deeply frightened by what he perceives as his responsibility to take care of his mother and sister in the absence of his dead soldier father. Uncle Hake, the mother's brother, is the intruder whose admittance stems from an idea of necessity and family decency. It is this outsider, his desires, and death (always the intruder), who tear at the tenuous family bonds of mother, dead father, and starkly contrasted children. Chappell skillfully and quickly catches us in the artful net of his concept and his lucid and vibrant prose. Fred Chappell is a past Poet Laureate of the state of North Carolina. Boson Books also offers Dagon, Moments of Light, The Gaudy Place and It Is Time, Lord by Fred Chappell. For an author bio and photo, reviews and a reading sample, visit bosonbooks.com."

Download or read book The Fred Chappell Reader written by Fred Chappell and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fred Chappell is one of our most brilliant and versatile authors, with many novels, short stories, and volumes of poetry to his credit. This anthology bears witness to the scope of his career: a rich body of narrative and lyrical fictions ranging over history, mythology, science, philosophy, and Chappell's own life. He has been recognized as a storyteller "to put on the shelf with Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and Eudora Welty" (The Washington Post). The Fred Chappell Reader is full of stories, including a complete novel, Dagon; substantial portions of four other novels; several short stories (two of which are previously uncollected); and poems culled from his books, an achievement for which Chappell shared (with John Ashbery) the prestigious Bolligen Prize in 1985. Here is an important and thoroughly rewarding selection of work by a major American writer.

Download or read book The Gaudy Place written by Fred Chappell and published by Bitingduck Press LLC. This book was released on 2002 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Violence and sex in a small Southern city. Arkie, Clemmie, Oxie, and Johns are linked by a schoolboy's prank. Arkie, Clemmie, and Oxie are three of a kind: cons who grub for small change. They have no history and no future. Johns is their counterpart in a brighter universe. His thievery is sanctioned because he's Family in a small Southern city. Arkie: Suddenly it occurred to him that this street, Gimlet Street, could take you anywhere in the world, it was joined to all the other streets there were. He shook his head, grinning. This was his territory. He was chained to Gimlet and he was chained to Clemmie, that green-eyed girl he was so helplessly in love with. Chappell has outstanding gifts as a writer! - Southern Observer Chappell writes like a whiz! - Book Wee Chappell writes with imagination and descriptive grace! - Los Angeles Times Chappell is a powerful and demanding and uncompromising writerOC very powerful and impressive! - Greensboro Daily News Fred Chappell is a past Poet Laureate of North Carolina. Boson Books also offers The Inkling, Dagon, Moments of Light, and It Is Time, Lord by Fred Chappell.

Download or read book Dagon written by Fred Chappell and published by Bitingduck Press LLC. This book was released on 1996-12 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yellow light filled the attic. The light locked with the dust tons of dust up here and the atmosphere of the place stuffed his head like a fever. It seemed that he perceived this light with every nerve of his body. The attic was mostly empty but toward the south wall was a queer arrangement of chains; the ends dangled about seven feet from the floor and had broad iron bands attached. The bands were hinged on one side so they could open and shut. The chains looked red in the yellow light. He held one of the bands and stroked his finger along the inside and it came away reddish. Rust, he thought; but it didn't flake; it wasn't gritty like rust. It was old, caked blood. . . Peter is mesmerized by his find and he begins a journey to where a bloodstained god awaits the last of the Lelands. ""I am honestly convinced that Fred Chappell is one of the finest writers of this time, one of the rare and precious few who are truly 'major.'"" George Garrett, author of "Death of the Fox"and "The Succession." Fred Chappell is a past Poet Laureate of North Carolina. Boson Books also offers "Dagon" "The Gaudy Place" and "Moments of Light"by Fred Chappell.

Download or read book Cthulhu s Reign written by Darrell Schweitzer and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2010-04-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All original stories about the return of Cthulhu and the Old Ones to Earth. Some of the darkest hints in all of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos relate to what will happen after the Old Ones return and take over the earth. What happens when Cthulhu is unleashed upon the world? What happens when the other Old Ones, long since banished from our universe, break through and descend from the stars? What would the reign of Cthulhu be like on a totally transformed planet where mankind is no longer the master? Find out in these exciting, brand-new stories.

Download or read book Harvesting Ballads written by Philip Kimball and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Shadow All of Light written by Fred Chappell and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-04-12 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Upon arriving in the port city of Tradocco, Falco becomes apprentice to master shadow thief Maestro Astolfo, and as his education progresses, he is plunged into the company of con men, monsters, pirates, and the King of the Cats.

Download or read book Moments of Light written by Fred Chappell and published by Bitingduck Press LLC. This book was released on 1996-12 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Moments of Light' proves that the mythic powers of the balladeer and the story teller survive even in this fragmented and unmysterious day. In eleven stories gathered here, Fred Chappell engages and entertrains our minds and sends us away singing in our hearts, more knowing, more understanding of ourselves.

Download or read book Family Gathering written by Fred Chappell and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2000-09-01 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The occasion might be a holiday or a wedding, a christening or a funeral, and a family is gathered on the eve to eat, drink, talk, and cast eyes upon each other. Like all relations, the extended family in Fred Chappell’s Family Gathering has its foibles and strengths—oddballs and know-it-alls, hussies and historians, sparring spouses and model marriages. More than anything, this family loves gossip. Chappell portrays its members one and all in a series of sharply limned character sketches. In this crowd of strangers we may find personalities familiar, maybe too familiar. Perhaps we may even find a glimpse or two of ourselves. Framed by the observations of Elizabeth, “age eight, / Priss-proud in her finery and bored / Bored bored,” the collection introduces ebullient Cousin Marjorie, self-satisfied Uncle Einar, evasive Cousin Lilias, cunning Aunt Wilma, aged Uncle Nahum, convivial Uncle Hobart, confusing Aunt Alicia—set down in poems terse, witty, sympathetic, thoughtful, and satiric. Cousin Elmer “tends the family tree, / Shaping it to topiary rare / And strange as he trims a little here and there / And lops some ugly branches drastically.” Cousin Lola “charts her paramours / On a performance scale from One to Ten / And then announces publicly the scores.” Uncle Brit “cuts you off before you say / Two sentences and lets you know / He knows already what you think / And what you think is pretty dumb.” And Aunt Agnes, ever forgiving, “recognizes what we are, / Yet holds us in affection / As steadfast as the morning star, / As if our faults had no connection / With the persons we are within.” Although there is no continuous story line, the poems in Family Gathering almost amount to a piece of fiction. We leave these lines with full knowledge of the characters—their personalities, prejudices, idiosyncrasies, and intricate relationships with one another. Chappell gives us gossip, but also gossip parodied. If your family is like most, sparks of recognition will leap from every page. With results like those of the Polaroids taken by the family photographer, Chappell “makes us look as scary / As old woodcuts in a bestiary— / But maybe, after all, that’s us.” Varied, humorous, and, above all, true, Family Gathering is pure mean fun.