From the author of The Whisper of the River and Epiphany. In this coming-of-age story, Porter Osbourne Jr. is a precocious, sensitive, and rambunctious boy trying to make it through adolescence during the Depression. On a red-clay farm in Georgia, he learns all there is to know about cotton-chopping, hog-killing, watermelon-thumping, and mule-handling. School provides a quick course in practical joking, schoolboy crushes, athletic glory, and clandestine sex. But it is Porter’s family-- his genteel, patient mother, his swarm of cousins, his snuff-dipping grandmother, and, most of all, his beloved though flawed father--who teaches Porter the painful truths about growing up strong enough to run with the horsemen. "The writing is elegant, reflective, and amused. Mr. Sams is a storyteller sure of his audience . . . gifted with perfect timing."--The New York Times Book Review "Remarkable both for its humor and its sustained and detailed picture of a mischievous Southern farmboy’s life during the Great Depression."--The Washington Post

Run with the Horsemen (Penguin Contemporary American Fiction Series)

Literature & Fiction

Sams, Ferrol

Dramas & Plays

Penguin??Books

The bittersweet and very funny story of a young man’s journey to adulthood that the Nashville Banner called "Americana at its best." Young for his class and small for his age, Porter Osborne, Jr., leaves his rural Georgia home in 1938 to meet the world at Willingham University, armed with the knowledge that he has been "Raised Right" in the best Baptist tradition. What happens over the next four years will challenge the things he holds infallible: his faith, his heritage, and his parents’ omniscience. As we follow Porter’s college career, full of outrageous pranks and ribald humor, we sense a quiet, constant flow toward maturity. Peppered with memorable characters and resonant with details of place and time, The Whisper of the River is filled with the richness of spirit that makes great fiction. "Wry, incisive, delicately structured, emotionally complex, and hilarious." -- Atlanta Magazine

The Whisper of the River

Penguin Publishing Group

Eight short stories include the title story, in which the twenty-one-year-old widow Higbee matches wits with a preacher who inquires about the tithe on the double-indemnity insurance she recently collected

The Widow's Mite (Contemporary American Fiction)

Literary

“Ferrol Sams is a natural-born storyteller with a puckish wit, an obsession with words, and a rare ability to encapsule every off-center character who stumbles into his ken.” – Atlanta Journal &amp; Constitution The year is 1942 and Porter Osborne, Jr., is safely ensconced in medical school. He is physically safe, though taunted by the beckoning finger of Uncle Sam. Haunted by the family motto, “Remember who you are,” Porter wrestles with a flood of conflicting emotions. A year later, the conflicts still unresolved, he is an enlisted man in the U.S. Army. In the face of incomprehensible delays and inefficiency, he wonders how America will ever prevail in the world war. Surgical Technician PFC Porter Osborne finally lands at Omaha Beach and joins the Allied fight against Germany. The final novel in the trilogy that began with Run with the Horsemen and The Whisper of the River, When All the World Was Young continues the story of young Porter Osborne with the supreme wit and wisdom that readers have come to expect from the inimitable Ferrol Sams. “With his mastery of words, his skills as storyteller supreme and his highly believable attention to detail… Sams remains a master yarn-spinner.” – Nashville Banner

When All the World Was Young (Contemporary American Fiction)

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Epiphany: Stories

From the bestselling author of eight novels, including Run with the Horsemen. Each of these novella-length tales focuses on an epiphany—a revelation born of an unlikely interchange. A quixotic old doctor who loves poetry and battles bureaucracy talks with his new patient, an ex-con whose story of racism and injustice changes them both. The mettle of a man’s 40-year marriage is examined when he and his wife, on an expedition to gather wild plants, survive a series of odd accidents and strange encounters in the remote Georgia mountains. A group of smart-alecky high school seniors interviews the town’s oldest citizen and learns a lesson or two about the not-so-good (but maybe not-so-bad) old days and the bonds that can bridge generations. In Epiphany, Ferrol Sams once again displays the warmth, humor, and wisdom that have delighted readers and earned him many a comparison to Mark Twain. “In typical Sams style, the three stories . . . are written with humor and heart. He is a master storyteller.”—Macon Telegraph

United States

A rollicking tale of a small Southern town by the bestselling author of Run with the Horsemen With his naturalistic and humorous storytelling style, Ferrol Sams has won fans from all walks of life, especially those drawn to Southern fiction. And while the literary landscape of the rural South is peppered with great storytellers, few are as endearing as James Aloysius ?Buster? Holcombe, Jr., the observant narrator of Sams?s new novel. From Reconstruction, the first World War, the Depression, and World War II , to racial integration, land speculation, and economic boom, Buster Holcombe recounts the events that have shaped our country since the mid-nineteenth century through the eyes of the wide-ranging denizens of ?our town.? Down Town offers a panoptic history of the American South, carefully observed and skillfully presented by a native son.

Down Town

Christmas memories from the renowned storyteller. Available in book form or as an unabridged audio cassette read by Sams.

Christmas Gift!

Delta

Religion & Spirituality

Worship & Devotion

Laurel

The literacy landscape of the rural South is peppered with great storytellers, but few are as endearing as James Aloysius ?Buster? Holcombe, Jr., observant narrator of the new novel by best-selling author Ferrol Sams. Buster Holcombe begins his tale immediately after the Civil War, as the patriarchs of his small Georgia town sow seeds that will sprout for more than a century. Generation after generation, we are introduced to the men and women of ?our town.? As he has demonstrated in previous books, including the highly acclaimed Run With the Horsemen, Ferrol Sams is a master at developing rich characters. Calculating politicians, ruthless businessmen, nosey spinsters, manipulating wives, Southern belles, morticians, - they're all part of the fabric of ?our town.? And Buster Holcombe, the piano playing, poetry loving lawyer who never had time for a wife, loves them all in spite of their shortcomings. Ferrol Sams' eye for what is real among the myths and what's human is unerring.

Action & Adventure

Mercer University Press

Christmas Gift!, a master storyteller's moving personal reminiscence, discovers the very essence of the holiday season. Interweaving his memories of boyhood Christmases in the dark days of the Depression and the details of present-day holidays with his grandchildren, Ferrol Sams demonstrates the deep, inescapable role of rituals in our lives and the importance of passing them on to each succeeding generation. Rich with details as true today as they were more than a half-century ago when Sams was growing up, Christmas Gift! is a grandfather's loving preservation of an important ritual of his childhood. Strapped for material resources adequate to their generous spirits, members of the Sams household would greet each other with the joyous cry of "Christmas gift!" in order to share the tidings of the season and celebrate their connection. Sams is in rare form in this tale that will warm hearts, create laughter and tears, and earn a place in the center of Christmas celebrations for years to

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sams, Ferrol. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Sams, Ferrol

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sams, Ferrol. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Run with the Horsemen (Penguin Contemporary American Fiction Series)

The Whisper of the River

The Widow's Mite (Contemporary American Fiction)

When All the World Was Young (Contemporary American Fiction)

Epiphany: Stories

Down Town

Christmas Gift!

Christmas Gift!

Down Town

Christmas Gift!