Southern Literature – flannel and folklore

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani

Not once did I ever have the privilege or pleasure of going to sleepaway camp. This simple fact, of course, means that I’ve romanticized this quintessential summer experience beyond all reason. Do I picture lazy days in the sun, lounging in the middle of the lake on a float, campfires, a little summer romance, andContinue reading “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani”

Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin

There is a particularly vein of literature that I find both unsettling and fascinating. Donald Ray Pollock, Daniel Woodrell, Frank Bill, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and Cormac McCarthy are modern writers who successfully mine that vein (impoverished, desperate, violent, and real). I now consider Tom Franklin to be one of them. In his debut novel (yes, debut,Continue reading “Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin”