In this collection of deliberately fragmented essays, a talented documentary filmmaker points the lens at herself and explores a succession of personal tragedies. Told from unusual perspectives and in highly figurative language, the essays draw on the Southern Gothic tradition of Flannery O'Connor and feature dark humor, flawed people, disastrous events, and moments of spiritual grace. Taken together they become a meditation on subjects such as death, work, family responsibilities, and raising a child.

An Accidental Memoir: How I Killed Someone and Other Stories

Wendy Reed

Jefferson Pr Llc

Forty Acres and a Goat: A Memoir

Describing himself as a “steeple dropout” and a “bootleg preacher” who also works as a “freelance civil rights activist,” Will D. Campbell has earned a notable place among America's favorite storytellers. Detailing his harrowing exploits during the racially charged 1960s as a liberal white man of God, this memoir brilliantly describes Campbell's attempt to live a spiritual life in a time of mistrust, racial intolerance, and violence. Despite such a dire backdrop, Campbell serves as a guide through the events with his patented humor and poignancy. In one instance he notes that black Muslims protected the grand dragon of the KKK in an upstate New York prison, demonstrating the contradictions and strange circumstances that bring people together.

Forty Acres and a Goat

Biographies & Memoirs

Campbell, Will D.

Leaders & Notable People

"The diverse and accomplished literary community rooted in Oxford, Mississippi, is celebrated in this collection. Featured is never-before-published work from some of the most respected names in contemporary literature, including Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, William Gay, Tom Franklin, Mark Richard, and Ace Atkins. Several of the contributors step outside their “comfort zones,” and make forays into new genres in these pieces: Larry Brown, best known for his fiction, ventures into memoir with an account of his marine boot camp days at Parris Island; short story author George Singleton provides a nonfiction account of his most recent book tour; and editor Lisa Howorth and screenwriter Anne Rapp delve into short fiction. Food writer John T. Edge is included, Dick Waterman debuts his photo essay on B.B. King, and a remarkable redneck haiku is included for good measure. The varied and unexpected pieces in this collection provide a clear snapshot of the robust state of Southern writing."

They Write Among Us: New Stories and Essays from the Best of Oxford Writers

Literature & Fiction

Dees, Jim

United States

Readers and travelers are guided to more than 200 homes and historic sites of America’s greatest writers—from the Jack London Ranch in northern California to William Faulkner’s home in Oxford, Mississippi. Clear driving directions and visitor instructions are combined with unique tidbits about each site and author, such as the story of Jack London’s custom-made furniture and the roll top desk and Dictaphone on display in his study. Literary enthusiasts are guided to the site of Thoreau’s bean field, where they can poke around an exact replica of his cabin. They can drop in on Margaret Mitchell’s recently restored Atlanta apartment or visit John Steinbeck’s haunts in the cozy California seaside town of Pacific Grove. This family-oriented, user-friendly guide teaches literary folk about writers' work, their philosophies, and the forces that compelled them to write. All 50 states are represented, and the literary sites are divided by geographic regions.

Traveling Literary America: A Complete Guide to Literary Landmarks

History

Welborn, B. J.

Americas

Teaching writers how to break into print by focusing on the business aspects of big-time publishing, this book combines a useful blend of personal anecdotes and experiences with New York agents and editors with how-to information on getting published and publishing. First-time writers learn the importance of who will buy their book and why, as well as what mistakes to avoid. Writers learn the specifics of proving a book’s worth to publishers, building a strong marketing plan, and lining up advance sales.

Getting Published: How to Learn and Master the Business of Writing

Reference

MAGEE, David

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

The 2003 University of Mississippi Ole Miss Rebels' football season electrified the town of Oxford. This title captures the important moments of the season, from the rousing win at Gainesville against the University of Florida to the crushing last-second loss at the hands of LSU.

Return to Glory: An Ole Miss Football Season to Remember

Sports & Outdoors

Cutcliffe, David

Football (American)

Evoking visceral images such as a fire-and-brimstone preacher ranting and a deep-voiced deejay spinning country music and reading the local news of fish fries, car wrecks, and church bake sales, this tale digs beneath the surface of the Southern Baptist Church, commercial radio, and small-town manhood. Seated next to each other on a bus headed out of Las Vegas, Southern Baptist preacher and radio evangelist, Ezekiel Blizzard Jr., and country-western deejay, Timber Goodman, would not initially appear to be birds of the same feather. Yet as their ride through the desert progresses, and their hardscrabble stories of childhood, drinking, drug use, gambling, radio, religion, and even violence in the "Christ-haunted South" unfold, they discover their unusual mutual quests for redemption. "Sam Starnes has crafted a beguiling, often hilarious tale of two American seekers who end up finding truths they hadn't imagined on a bus ride through the desert. Their individual stories are spun in rich, evocative prose that takes the reader into a world of radio evangelists who fall far short of practicing what they preach. Just when we think we understand these sinners comes a shocking denouement that makes us wonder if it's only coincidence that we meet the significant people in our lives. This is one of those novels that resonates long after the final page," said Alice Elliott Dark, author of "In the Gloaming," a short story selected by John Updike for the Best American Short Stories of the Century, and the novel Think of England.

Calling

Starnes, Joe Samuel

A former University of Alabama All-American football star, a member of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's 1973 national championship team, and father to current Alabama star quarterback Brodie Croyle, John Croyle sidelined a possible lucrative career in the NFL to be a "dad" to more than 1,500 children abandoned by parents. Croyle and his wife founded the Big Oak Ranch for adolescents in 1974 and have since raised children from backgrounds of abuse and neglect to become productive citizens, providing them with a safe and loving home as well as educational and vocational opportunities. The specific challenges of raising adolescent boys to become men of strength, integrity, and good character are set forth in Croyle's honest and unflinching voice.

Two-minute Drill To Manhood: What Every Parent Wants Their Son To Become And Their Daughter To Marry

Politics & Social Sciences

Croyle, John

Social Sciences

An ardent canoeist for more than forty-five years, John Manuel was first introduced to the solace, natural wonder and exhilaration of canoeing while growing up on the Chagrin River in Ohio, paddling an old Grumman canoe under the scrutiny of his father. Decades later, as he watches his elderly dad succumb to cancer, Manuel recalls this initiation into a lifetime of canoeing with both fondness and confusion. What was the allure of rivers? Was it the challenge of rapids, the natural beauty his father had known? Or was it the need to pursue his own life, to escape from home and family expectations? At times rollicking and playful as the rapids it portrays, The Canoeist also possesses a rare emotional depth. Manuel gives us a vivid picture of his own human experienceof falling in love, its elation and heart-rending turns; the intimate connection among paddling friends; the fight to save the natural places he reveres; the frustration and joy of bringing children into the canoeing life. Chapters named for a dozen eastern rivers carry the reader from such historic events as the fire on the Cuyahoga River and anti-Nixon demonstrations in Washington D.C. to the wild and some times dangerous watersheds of Manuel’s life. In part an ode to rivers, The Canoeist also affirms the vital importance of family and friends, and reveals a portrait of America in changing times.

The Canoeist: A Memoir

Manuel, John

Water Sports

MoonPie: Biography of an Out-of-This-World Snack

The story of the iconic MoonPie provides the framework for this unusual historical biography of the South and its most revered snack. Developed in 1917 in response to coal miners' request for a filling—yet portable—snack, the MoonPie quickly became a favorite treat countrywide, with particular appeal in the South. This clever narrative chronicles the long and arduous path the lunar confection has traveled during the past 75 years—including bouts with economic depression, war, recessions, conglomerate competition, and changing generational tastes—and its enduring popularity almost a century later.

Moonpie: Biography of an Out-of-this-world Snack

Business & Money

Industries

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Books by Jefferson Pr Llc