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Winston Groom is the author of ten books, including the bestselling Forrest Gump, GUMP & CO., and Gumpisms : The Wit and Wisdom of Forrest Gump.

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Groom was expected to become a lawyer like his father, but after editing a literary magazine while attending the University of Alabama, he rejected his family’s expectations and pursued a career as a writer. His plans, however, were abruptly pushed aside when he was called to serve in the Vietnam War.  He served from 1966 to 1967, and his first two novels were a result of his experience during that time.

Upon his return from the War, he landed a job at the Washington Star covering police and the courts.  He had no formal journalism training, but learned quickly.  Later, he quit his job and dedicated all of his time to writing his first novel, Better Times Than These.  His second novel, As Summers Die won him awards and recognition, as did Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville : The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War, and Conversations With the Enemy: The Story of Pfc Robert Garwood, which he co-authored with Duncan Spencer.  Conversations With the Enemy was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

He returned to his native state of Alabama in 1986 and created his now world-famous character, Forrest Gump.  The novel had respectable sales, but it was not a best-seller and Groom had long since moved on to other projects. In 1994, the novel was made into one of America’s most popular and successful movies in 1994.  The novel was then re-released and sold 1.7 million copies. Groom has since written a sequel, Gump & Co.,

Groom now lives in Point Clear, on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, where he and his wife Anne Clinton have built a house.

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I knew I was reading a suspense when the specter of a horrible end appeared quickly at the edge of my consciousness, and yet I read a seamless thread in the book on why that was the only end possible. Especially when the author raised the tension by making crystal clear what that end would be even as the main character does everything she can to avoid it.

This is Winter’s Bone: A Novel, the latest from Daniel Woodrell (see SLR’s profile). Set in the Ozarks, this novel introduces Ree Dolly, a 16 year old marking time until she can escape into the army. We learn she has a crazy and immobile mother, two younger brothers, and a drug cook for a father. It is with her father where the story starts. He has a court date in a week and is nowhere to be found. Normally this would not be a problem, except this time he used their house and land as collateral for his bail bond. If he doesn’t show up for the trial, Ree and her family have no place to live and nowhere to go. (more…)