Ford County: Stories by John Grisham

HRevvdon@evpl — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:46:00 GMT

I downloaded John Grisham’s Ford County: Stories (2009) from EVPL’s Digital Library before heading out on my holiday road trip, Thanksgiving 2009. I started out pretty early in the morning listening to this wonderful collection of short stories read by the author; Grisham is not at his best as a reader. For the most part authors should leave the reading of their work to actors. Grisham’s reading is stilted and with odd emphasis at times. He tends to end every sentence with uplift. The first story is the worse for reading style, thereafter either I got used to his reading or he got more comfortable with the reading.

Grisham returns to Clanton, Ford County, Mississippi, and the vicinity for the setting of most of these stories. There is a wide range of storyline and characters. Unique and entertaining, the stories are small and intimate tales of small town and rural life.

My favorite of the tales is “Fetching Raymond.” It is well written and draws you into the story slowly with heartbreak and humor. Grisham excels at writing heartbreak with humor. “Fetching Raymond” is reminiscent of Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road (1932) and God’s Little Acre (1933), both favorites of mine.

Several stories involve lawyers. These lawyers and their tales are very different than what Grisham has written in the past. His enjoyment in writing these stories is apparent to the reader.

If you have enjoyed Grisham in the past, especially his writings outside the courtroom, you will enjoy these short stories. I would recommend reading instead of listening on this one.

The Oxford Project

bookchick@evpl — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:00:00 GMT

From the very first page this book had me hooked.

Photographer Peter Feldstein lived in Oxford, Iowa his whole life when in 1984 he decided to photograph every person in his small town. Peter describes this project as a "...social experiment, a way to give equal, democratic billing to every single resident- rich or poor, young or old, respected or reviled." (Oxford Project p. 16) After a showing of his work in the American Legion Hall he put the negatives away and went back to everyday life.

For twenty years he went back to everyday life. In 2005 Peter decided to rephotograph as many of the original residents as he could find and to invite Stephen Bloom to interview them, to tell their stories.

What emerged was a book called the Oxford Project. A fascinating look into the lives of the residents in a rural Iowa town. The 2005 photos are curiously the same as the 1984 photos with people standing the same general way heads tilted or arms folded. The stories are poignant.

The book made me wonder what stories were behind the people that I see every day. Would I understand them better or treat them differently if I knew? I'm going to let just knowing that there is a story make a difference.

Books Blog : Rural Life

Ford County: Stories by John Grisham

The Oxford Project