The Member of the Wedding
By
Carson McCullers
"Any creative thing is so mysterious that it's impossible to remember the source — if
there were a traceable source. But I do think the idea of wanting to belong haunts
every child. And not only children. I think it is the primary question: 'Who am I?
What am I? Or, where do I belong? and where can I belong?' But childhood or
adolescence is a time of crisis, and such questions are more haunting, more
immediate, then." Carson McCullers in from "Behind the Wedding," New York Times
(January 1,1950)
Prepared for:
Katy Perry
February 22, 2008
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The Member of the Wedding – Fast Facts
Author – Carson McCullers
Pages – 132
Date Published – 1946 (by Houghton Mifflin)
Setting – August 1944; Southern United States
Point of view – Third person limited (protagonist: Frankie)
Genre – Coming of Age
Issues/Conflicts – Identity / Family / War / Death / Adolescence
Awards -- New York Critics Award (1950) for her stage adaptation for The
Member of the Wedding
Beyond the Basics…
Check out Carson McCullers official website:
http://www.carson-mccullers.com/html/mem.html
And this lovely review from NPR’s Augusten Burroughs:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12166764
(Here is an excerpt: “There is a book I love dearly. So dearly, I have read
it at least three times, if not 10. Always in the summer. The Member of
the Wedding, by Carson McCullers. It was originally published in
1946, and I consider it a small miracle.”)
Carson McCullers -- Author Information
"The greatest prose writer that the South produced." — Tennessee Williams
Lula Carson Smith was born on February 19, 1917 in Columbus, Georgia. At the
age of 17, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York to study
piano, but was unable to afford the classes. She then studied writing at New York
University and Columbia University. In 1937, she married James Reeves
McCullers, a fellow writer and corporal in the Army. They soon divorced, but
then remarried in 1955. Unfortunately, James eventually killed himself.
Carson McCullers published her first novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, at the
age of 17. She eventually wrote 5 novels, 20 short stories, 2 plays, over 24 works
of nonfiction, poetry, and an unfinished autobiography. She was awarded 2
Guggenheim fellowships, and her stage adaptation of The Member of the
Wedding won a New York Critics Award in 1950.
McCullers died in 1967 at the age of 50 from complications from a misdiagnosed
and untreated case of childhood rheumatic fever.
McCullers's sister Margarita Smith once wrote: "Of all the characters in the work
of Carson McCullers, the one who seemed to her family and friends most like the
author herself was Frankie Addams: the vulnerable, exasperating, and endearing
adolescent of The Member of the Wedding who was looking for the 'we of me'"
(from the introduction to The Mortgaged Heart).
Further biographical background: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/carsonmc.htm
Printable Bookmark! Please print and then cut to use as a reference
as you read!! Only basic information has been provided to avoid
“spoilers.” The “Intro” column indicates the page on which each
character is first introduced. Enjoy!
Character
Description
Pg
Frankie
(F. Jasmine,
Frances) Addams
Berenice Sadie
Brown
John Henry West
Jarvis Addams
Protagonist; 12 year old
girl
3
Cook and mother-figure
to Frankie; mid 30’s
Frankie’s cousin; 6 yrs old
Frankie’s brother; army
corporal; lives in AK
Jarvis’s fiancée
Frankie’s widowed father;
works at jewelry store; 41
years old
John Henry’s mother
Married to Pet; John
Henry’s father
Berenice’s foster brother
and his wife
Frankie’s best friend who
moved to FL
Neighborhood boy
Berenice’s foster brother
3
Berenice’s beau
Berenice’s first husband;
dead 9 years
Former renters of the
Addams
John Henry’s great uncle
Owns Blue Moon
23
23
Soldier on leave interested
in Frankie
Townspeople Frankie tells
about the wedding
48
Bartender at Blue Moon
58
Man who became a
woman
Jenkins’s love
Friend of Berenice
Piano tuner
66
Berenice’s 2nd husband
Berenice’s 3rd husband
Berenice’s 4th husband
Fortune teller
Wedding guests
86
86
90
94
119
Police officer who helps
Frankie
Frankie’s friend
Mary’s father
127
Janice Evans
Royal Quincy
Addams
Aunt Pet West
Uncle Eustace
West
John and Clorina
Evelyn Owen
Barney MacKean
Honey Camden
Brown
T.T. Williams
Ludie Freeman
Mr. & Mrs.
Marlowe
Uncle Charles
Portuguese bar
owner
Red-headed soldier
Tut Ryan, boarding
house lady, tractor
man, blond
women,
Fat lady w/ gold
tooth
Lily Mae Jenkins
June Jones
Cape Clyde
Mr.
Schwarzenbaum
Jamie Beale
Henry Johnson
Willis Rhodes
Big Mama
Mr. & Mrs.
Williams
Officer Wylie
Mary Littlejohn
Mr. Littlejohn
3
4
4
4
7
10
14
21
21
23
33
41
48
4657
66
70
74
129
130
The Member of the Wedding – Beverages
Delicious tea!
http://www.teaforte.com/
(I would recommend Chamomile Tisane or Raspberry Nectar:
http://www.teaforte.com/our-teas/herbal-and-red-tisanes/)
Southern Sweet Tea, courtesy of www.grits.com/tea.htm
Here is my never fail sweet tea...
Everyone (even yankees) loves it.
Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of baking soda to the water and add 3 family sized
tea bags. Remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Pour into gallon
pitcher and add sugar. Then fill with cold water. Refrigerate.
*the soda takes out the bitterness and darkens the tea....this small amount doesn’t change the
taste.
More Beverage Ideas From the South…
Courtesy of: http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/mississippi_recipes.shtml
Apricot Punch Tea
1 46-ounce bottle apricot nectar
2 cups strong unsweetened instant tea, freshly prepared
2 cups ginger ale, chilled
Combine all ingredients; add ice and serve. Makes 16 servings.
Firecracker Punch
4 cups cranberry juice
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 cups pineapple juice
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 quarts ginger ale
Combine cranberry juice, sugar, pineapple juice and almond extract. Chill until
serving time, then pour into bowl and add ginger ale.
Hopping John!
(Diabetic Exchange: 1-1/2 starch, 1 vegetable)
Hoppin' John recipe
(from epicurious.com)
Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking | April 2000
by John Martin Taylor
My namesake. Throughout the South this humble dish of "peas" and rice is eaten on New Year's
Day for good luck, with a plate of greens, cooked with a hog jowl and plenty of corn bread to sop
up the pot likker. In Charleston and the surrounding Lowcountry, cowpeas — dried local field
peas — are traditional. The classic Charleston recipe for hoppin' john is a very dry version of the
dish, but it is served with greens in their juices — or with a side dish of more peas and pot likker.
"One pound of bacon, one pint of red peas, one pint of rice" — thus did Sarah Rutledge begin what
may well be the first written receipt for this quintessential Lowcountry dish. As the daughter of
Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and niece of Arthur Middleton,
another signer, Miss Rutledge was the "Lady of Charleston" who anonymously authored The
Carolina Housewife in 1847.
Where the name originated is a matter of dispute, and I hesitate to concur with any of the pop
etymologies. Still, I believe the dish arrived here with the slaves, who numbered in the tens of
thousands in Charleston and on the neighboring rice plantations of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Those West Africans were long familiar with rice cultivation and cookery, and the pigeon pea
(Cajanus), favored throughout Africa, quickly took to the tropical environment of the Caribbean
where so many of the hapless Africans were first shipped. The Carolina Housewife may have been
written by a "Lady of Charleston," but dishes such as hoppin' john were staples in the "big house"
that had been brought there by black cooks. Karen Hess, the noted culinary scholar, includes an
entire chapter on hoppin' john in her treatise on the Carolina rice kitchen, but one needn't be a
historian to understand that the slaves taught the master to love this simple dish.
Servings: Makes 6 servings.
Ingredients
1 cup small dried beans such as cowpeas or black-eyes
5 to 6 cups water
1 dried hot pepper (optional)
1 smoked ham hock
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup long-grain white rice
Preparation
Wash and sort the peas. Place them in a saucepan, add the water, and discard any peas that float.
Gently boil the peas with the pepper, ham hock, and onion, uncovered, until tender but not mushy
— about 1 1/2 hours — or until 2 cups of liquid remain. Add the rice to the pot, cover, and simmer
over low heat for about 20 minutes, never lifting the lid.
Remove from the heat and allow to steam, still covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the
cover, fluff with a fork, and serve immediately.
Meatless Hopping John
Courtesy of http://members.aol.OND/hoppingjohn.html
Light & Tasty
"I traditionally make this black-eyed pea dish for New Year's celebrations," notes Ann Buckendahl
of Benton, Kansas. "This version has more seasonings and veggies than the classic Southern dish."
SERVINGS: 10
CATEGORY: Low Fat
METHOD: Stovetop - One-Dish
TIME: Prep/Total Time: 10 min.
Ingredients:














3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 cup frozen corn
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup each chopped green, sweet red and yellow pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 can (15-1/2 ounces) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Directions:
Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, saute the corn,
carrots, peppers, onion and garlic in oil for 6-8 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Stir in the rice, peas and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes
or until heated though, stirring occasionally. Add the seasonings; cook 2-3 minutes
longer. Yield: 10 servings.
Great Appetizers from the South!
Courtesy of: http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/mississippi_recipes.shtml
Fried Green Tomatoes by Verna Lisa
3 slices of bacon
4 medium green tomatoes
1 cup fine ground cornmeal
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup milk
Fry the bacon in heavy skillet. Transfer it to absorbent paper. Cut each tomato
into 1/2" thick slices. Put sliced tomatoes on absorbent paper. Mix together the
cornmeal, salt and pepper. Dip tomato slices into a small bowl of milk remove
and coat with your cornmeal mixture. Fry tomatoes in the bacon fat over medium
heat until the cornmeal browns, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Can be served
over rice or pasta and smothered with a cream sauce and crawfish tails or shrimp.
Hot Peanuts by Verna Lisa
1 to 2 Tablespoons dried crushed red pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (12oz) can cocktail peanuts
1 (12oz) can Spanish peanuts
1 Teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Cook crushed red pepper in hot oil in a large skillet 1 minute. Stir in garlic and
peanuts; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Remove from
heat; sprinkle with salt and chili powder. Drain on paper towels; cool completely
and serve.
Dessert Recipes from the South!
Courtesy of http://www.ruralmissouri.org/rmfood/salads.html
Blue Chess Squares
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of a lemon, divided
1 box cake mix, yellow, butter or lemon
4 eggs divided
1 stick butter, softened
2-3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
Combine blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and half the lemon zest in a bowl. Set aside. Mix the
cake mix with one egg, softened butter and the remaining lemon zest. Pat into a buttered and
floured 13-by-9-inch baking pan.
In a mixing bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat powdered sugar with cream cheese and
remaining three eggs until smooth. Gently stir in blueberry mixture; pour over cake. Bake in
a preheated 325 degree oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until browned. Let cool completely. Chill
and cut into squares. Serve with fresh blueberries and a dusting of powdered sugar. Store
remaining dessert in the refrigerator.
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed banana
1-3/4 cups oatmeal
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small package chocolate chips
Mix ingredients together and drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at
350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack
The Member of the Wedding -- Setting the
Mood!
Here are some ideas to set the mood and get the conversation started to help you
appreciate McCullers’s masterpiece. Enjoy!
Introductory Game Idea:
Since Berenice, Frankie and John Henry discuss their “death-test
meal,” consider asking each member to describe their own “deathtest meal.” (Maybe each member could bring this dish to your next
holiday meal?)
Here’s a reminder of how they defined this concept: “She [Frankie] had always
warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose when she was in her
coffin, to make certain there was no mistake; for if a breath of life was left in her,
she would sit up and eat, but if she smelled the hopping-john, and did not stir,
then they could just nail down the coffin and be certain she was truly dead.” (67)
Frankie’s: Hopping-john
Berenice’s: Fried Fresh-water Trout
John Henry: Divinity Fudge
The Member of the Wedding – Discussion
Questions
The following questions approach the novel from a number of
different angles, i.e., how the novel functions as a work of art, how it
reflects the time period, how it addresses fundamental questions of
humanity, and how it engages the reader. A good discussion tends to
start with our “heads” and end with our “hearts.” So, you may want
to save subjective opinions of taste until after you have discussed the
more objective elements of the work’s merits. It is tempting to begin
with, “What did everyone think?” But if a number of people really
didn’t like the novel, their opinions may derail a discussion of the
novel’s merits. On the other hand, I recommend starting with a few
accessible questions and asking every member to respond to ensure
that all voices are present and heard from the beginning. Just a few
suggestions! Enjoy…
Warm up questions:
 Which character did you empathize with the most? Which characters did
you dislike the most and why?
 Which sections did you enjoy the most?
 Did any sections drag?
1) How did the narrator changing her name in each part – from Frankie to F.
Jasmine to Frances – affect your impressions of her? Why does McCullers do
this?
2)How did the structure of the novel (three parts – three chapters in the second
part) affect your reading of the novel? Would chapter breaks throughout the
novel have increased or decreased your enjoyment?
3)In addition to the narrator changing her name, notice how she mixes up what
she means at the beginning:
“The world is certainly a small place…I mean sudden” (p. 5-6); “I am
sick and tired of [John Henry]…But it seemed to me he looked
scared…Maybe I mean lonesome.” (p. 8).
What aspects of Frankie’s journey seemed most “normal” or developmentallyappropriate for a twelve year old girl? Which aspects were jarring or worrisome?
4)We learn early on that the neighborhood girls have been excluding Frankie:
“The members of the club were girls who were thirteen and fourteen
and even fifteen years old…Frankie knew all of the club members, and
until this summer she had been like a younger member of their
crowd, but now they had this club and she was not a member. They
had said she was too young and mean.” (p. 10).
Why do adolescents feel the need to draw boundaries and exclude others?
5) Why is it so important for Frankie to be “a member”?
6)In what ways is Frankie affected by the death of her mother?
7)In what ways is Berenice a positive mother-figure and in what ways is she
not?
8)At the beginning, when John Henry wants to examine Frankie’s suitcase, she
states:
“He wanted to meddle in her traveling suitcase and look carefully at
everything she owned. But Frankie only wanted him to get a general
impression, and not count and know just what she had and what she
did not have.” (p. 11).
Describe Frankie and John Henry’s relationship.
9)At the beginning and at the end, Frankie refers to the “irony of fate” – first
when referring to the moths around the house (p. 11), and then again in her letter
to her father (p. 123). What does Frankie mean by this? How does this phrase
inform the actions of the novel?
10) Frankie describes her day walking around the town as
“That day alone seemed equally important as both the long past and the
bright future – as a hinge is important to a swinging door…So these were the
main reasons why F. Jasmine felt, in an unworded way, that this was a
morning different from all mornings she had ever known. And of all these
facts and feelings the strongest of all was the need to be known for her true
self and recognized.” (p. 51).
Other than changing her name, what other ways does Frankie experiment with
her identity? Why does she tell the story of the wedding to so many
townspeople?
11)On page 35, Frankie decides that her brother and his fiancé are the “we of
me.” Why is this so important to Frankie? Who do you think are the “we” of
Frankie?
12)Although “Death” has a palpable presence in the novel, does the death at the
end come as a surprise? How did you react to the ending? Did it effectively
provide closure / seem appropriate?
13)Race also has a presence in this novel. The setting is a small town in the
South in 1946. Notice how the African Americans are described as “black,”
“colored,” and “nigger.” On page 118, moments after the wedding has occurred,
Frankie thinks:
“She was sitting next to Berenice, back with the colored people, and
when she thought of it she used the mean word she had never used
before, nigger – for now she hated everyone and wanted only to spite
and shame,” (p. 118).
Why does Frankie choose to lash out in this manner?
14)Berenice and Frankie talk about people being “caught” and “loose” with
regard to identity and community. Berenice states:
“We all of us somehow caught. We born this way or that way and we
don’t know why. But we caught anyhow…And maybe we wants to
widen and bust free. But no matter what we do we still caught. Me is
me and you is you and he is he.”(p. 98).
How do we – adults – get past this constriction of identity? Or do we?
15)In the same conversation, Frankie says,
“I wonder if you have ever thought about this. Here we are – right
now. This very minute. Now. But while we’re talking right now, this
minute is passing. And it will never come again. Never in all the
world. When it is gone it is gone. No power on earth could bring it
back again. It is gone. Have you ever thought about that?” (p.100).
How do we – adults – get past this intimate concern with our mortality? Or do
we?
Wrap up Questions!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Would you recommend the book to others? (Why/not)
If you could change anything, what would it be?
Do you believe this should be considered a classic?
Would you read a sequel of this novel?
If taught in school, what would be the appropriate age?
The Member of the Wedding -- Reviews
From http://www.carson-mccullers.com/html/mem.html:
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Kirsten Backstrom
In Carson McCullers' writing, every word evokes the tragic and miraculous emotional truths of
ordinary experience. Her characters are complex, even weird, but feel entirely genuine; her scenes
are accessible even when they aren't familiar. In The Member of the Wedding, Frankie Adams is
hungry for escape, hungry for belonging; it is her peculiar resolution to this classic adolescent
paradox that makes her unique. Frankie finds a new identity in her determination to become an
integral part of her brother's wedding: "At last she knew just who she was and understood where
she was going. She loved her brother and the bride and she was a member of the wedding. The
three of them would go into the world and they would always be together." This fantasy
transforms Frankie's twelve-year old perspective on herself, her relationships, and her small
southern hometown. Her inevitable disillusionment and ultimate survival seem almost mythical,
yet the tale is told in the simplest terms. The ongoing conversations in the hot kitchen between
Frankie, her cousin John Henry, and the cook Berenice resonate with social and personal
authenticity. This is a story to be read and reread, to be heard and felt and trusted.
-- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375
Great Books for Readers 2-14. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"A marvelous study of the agony of adolescence" (Detroit Free Press), The Member
of the Wedding later became an award-winning play and a major motion picture.
"Rarely has emotional turbulence been so delicately conveyed. Carson McCullers's
language has the freshness, quaintness, and gentleness of a sensitive child." — New
York Times
"There is an almost perfect harmony between the theme of this book and the prose
in which it is expressed, for the prose is lyrical and sensitive and always fresh." —
Chicago Tribune
"[The Member of the Wedding] is poignant and arresting, amazingly perceptive and
exquisitely wrought." — Boston Herald
The Member of the Wedding -- Literary
Terms
Exposition – the introduction of the setting, characters, and conflict(s) at the
beginning of a novel. Our first impressions are greatly influenced by our enjoyment and
impressions of the few pages, so after finishing a novel, skim the first chapter (or part)
again to see how the author shaped and influenced your first impressions. Reread how
McCullers establishes Frankie’s alienation immediately: “It happened that green and
crazy summer when Frankie was twelve years old. This was the summer when for a
long time she had not been a member. She belonged to no club and was a member
of nothing in the world.” (p. 3)
Diction – word choice. Notice McCullers’s word choice and how that influences your
reading speed as well as enjoyment level. The pronoun “we” has great importance for
Frankie: “They are the we of me. Yesterday, and all the twelve years of her life, she had
only been Frankie. She was an I person who had to walk around and do things by
herself.” (p. 35).
Syntax – style of sentence structure. Notice how the author’s crafting of syntax affects
your engagement as a reader. Complexity of syntax does not determine literary merit –
the pairing of syntax to meaning does.
Tone – author’s attitude toward subject. Think “tone of voice.” Tone is created through
diction and can be very subtle, but is extremely important. If you misinterpret the tone,
you most likely misinterpret the meaning or theme of the narrative.
Mood – emotional atmosphere of novel. Mood is considered an aspect of the setting
(time, place, atmosphere). When we read a novel, we “read ourselves,” so think about
what type of mood your favorite novels tend to have and how different moods may
influence your enjoyment level. Notice how the mood shifts as the narration unfolds.
Theme – main idea that runs throughout and unifies novel. Theme should be stated as
a complete thought and not one word, which would instead be a topic of the novel:
instead of “death” or “identity” consider what the author is saying about the nature of
death or identity. In quality literature, themes are frequently not “morals” of the novel;
they may or may not represent the ideal.
Irony – the opposite of what is expected. Dramatic irony is when the reader has
more information than the character does, providing the reader with an all-knowing
perspective. Situational irony is when a situation turns out differently than
expected. Verbal irony is when the speaker means the opposite of what is said, so
correctly interpreting tone becomes crucial to the reader’s understanding of the events
and particularly of the themes. An example of situational irony occurs at the end, since it
was Frankie who had contemplated death throughout the story.
Imagery – the use of words that engage the senses. Notice the imagery used to describe
one of many evenings Frankie spent with Berenice and John Henry: “She sat with her
bare feet on the rungs of the chair, her eyes closed, and her chest against the table
edge. The red greasy cards were messed together on the table, and the sight of them
made Frankie sick. They had played cards after dinner every single afternoon; if
you would eat those old cards, they would taste like a combination of all the dinners
of that August, together with a sweaty-handed nasty taste.” (p. 14)
Symbolism – when an element of the story (object, character, color, etc.) is both
literally present in the novel and has significance or represents something beyond itself.
The author uses John Henry’s biscuit man to represent aspects of his personality: “He
was like a tiny watchmaker…Berenice have him some raisins, he did not stick them
all around as any other human child would do; he used only two for the eyes; but
immediately he realized they were too large – so he divided one raisin carefully and
put in eyes, two specks for the nose, and a little grinning raisin mouth…it was a
perfect little biscuit man, and, as a matter of fact, it reminded Frankie of John
Henry himself.” (p. 9)
Foil – when two characters contrast each other. The characters do not need to be
enemies – or even be aware of one another. John Henry and Frankie are foils in
temperament.
The Member of the Wedding – The Film
The Member of the Wedding has been represented through film in a number of
ways. The 1953 version was nominated for an Oscar for Julie Harris’s portrayal
of Frankie, and recently a made-for-television version was released (in 1997)
starring Anna Paquin and Alfre Woodard. Your group could watch this movie
together and discuss your impressions, or group members could watch it before
the meeting and then discuss impressions as a group. Time permitting, multiple
versions could be viewed and then compared. Here are a few possible movie
questions:
 While viewing the movie, which characters were most unlike how you
pictured them while reading the novel?
 Which characters seemed “right on” in their portrayal?
 What plot elements were left out or changed in the movie?
 How was your enjoyment affected by what was left out/changed?
 If you were to remake this movie, who would you cast as Frankie and
John Henry? Berenice?
More information on the film(s):
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0044896/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119649/
The Member of the Wedding – Further
reading and Film Ideas!
Here are the recommendations from www.whatshouldireadnext.com:
Our Recommendations
These are our suggestions based on readers' recommendations.
The Mammoth Cheese - Sheri Holman See Amazon UK | US
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa
Banks See Amazon UK | US
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - James Agee, Walker
Evans, Blake Morrison See Amazon UK | US
The Far Pavilions - M.M. Kaye See Amazon UK | US
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes - Maya
Angelou See Amazon UK | US
Sleeping Arrangements - Laura Shaine Cunningham
See Amazon UK | US
The Years - Virginia Woolf See Amazon UK | US |
Read Comments
Eventide - Kent Haruf See Amazon UK | US
Crocodile Soup - Julia Darling See Amazon UK | US
So Long, See You Tomorrow - William Maxwell
See Amazon UK | US
Consider adding Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner to the list!
(I particularly recommend Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning”…)