click to buy

I cannot remember when I’ve gained so much wisdom from such a small novel. In his first book in several years, Clyde Edgerton tells a haunting tale of Aunt Lil, her nephew Carl and L. Ray Flowers along with several other memorable characters, several who “live” at Rosehaven Convalescence Center in Listre, North Carolina. The time is the present; the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou” is still playing at the local theatre. The themes are timeless, however: old age with all its problems and sorrows, missed opportunities, the ills of fundamentalist religion, the warehousing of those who can no longer look after themselves–and trite as it may seem– the redeeming power of both music and love. (more…)