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Paperback I Am One of You Forever Book

ISBN: 0807114103

ISBN13: 9780807114100

I Am One of You Forever

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Format: Paperback

Condition: Very Good

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Book Overview

Wonderfully funny and also deeply touching, I Am One of You Forever is the story of a young boy's coming of age. Set in the hills and hollows of western North Carolina in the years around World War II, it tells of ten-year-old Jess and his family--father, mother, grandmother, foster brother, and an odd assortment of other relatives--who usher Jess into the adult world, with all its attendant joys and sorrows, knowledge and mystery.

Jess's father is feisty, restless, and fun-loving. His mother is straitlaced and serious but accepts with grace and good humor the antics of the men of the family, a trait she learned from her own mother. Johnson Gibbs is the orphaned teenager who comes to live with them on their mountain farm. Life on the laurel-covered mountain is isolated and at times difficult, but for Jess it is made rich and remarkable through his relationship with his father and, especially, Johnson Gibbs.

Visiting the farm from time to time is a gallery of eccentric relatives who are surely among the most memorable creations in recent fiction. Uncle Luden is a womanizer who left the mountains years ago for a job in California that "paid actual cash money." Uncle Gurton has a spooky way of appearing and disappearing without ever seeming to enter or exit, but it is his flowing beard, which he has apparently never trimmed and which he keeps tucked inside his overalls, that is of most fascination to Jess.

Uncle Zeno is a storyteller. With the words "That puts me in mind of..." everyone around knows that he is about to launch into another of his endless tales. Uncle Runkin, who always brings his handmade coffin to sleep in whenever he visits, spends his time carving intricate designs into the coffin and trying to find just the right epitaph for his tombstone. Aunt Samantha Barefoot stops by for a brief spell, too. A country singer and cousin to Jess's grandmother, she is a woman of uncensored speech (Jess learns a lot from her) and honest emotions. Chappell tells the story of all of these characters in a series of chapters that range from fantasy and near farce to pathos. As notable for its lyrical descriptions of the rural settings as for its finely honed vernacular dialogue, I Am One of You Forever shows us a world full of wit and wisdom and the sadness at the heart of things. As one would expect from a poet like Fred Chappell, every line offers its own pleasures and satisfactions.

Customer Reviews

5 ratings

Memorable storytelling

I flatout loved this book. Chappell's novel of quirky tales flows with humor and touching insights, a work of subtle mastery. Everything about it seems right: the understated yet lyrically precise prose; the easy-leaning pace; the eccentric characters, especially the visiting uncles; the curious yearnings of an adolescent narrator; the grounded, homespun values of Southern lore. In the title of another reviewer, this book is a keeper. As Stephen King said (and I agree), life is too short to reread many books; however, this is one that deserves to be reread. It's that good. Clearly, Chappell's a man who savors the humor and language of life, a writer who crafts a tale of beguiling beauty. He writes sentences of such grace that I'm reminded of Anne Tyler. Read this book and enjoy the magic. Chappell is an artist who knows what he's doing.

A keeper.

I read this book originally for a class in college--so I went into reading it thinking "ugh." But not only did I love it--not only did it make me laugh, cry, roll my eyes, and a range of other emotions--but when I shared it with the rest of my family, they had the same reaction. All of us have read it, it's that good (and we don't usually agree on what's good). It is full of tall tales and mischief and is a fabulously, fabulously amazing book.

A Magical, Wonderful Book

This, the first in Fred Chappell's tetralogy of books about Joe Robert Kirkman and his family, consists of ten stories about ten-year-old (at the start of the book) Jess Kirkman's encounters with four of his mother's relatives, the live-in hired hand on the Kirkman farm, and some of their neighbors. Chappell's narration veers from straightforward fiction to fantasy, telling of the gusto and humor with which Joe Robert meets life. I found myself laughing out loud and slapping my knee at some of the passages, while being touched deeply by the novel's underlying theme of belonging to a family, a place, and a tradition.

" Listening" to Chappell's story gets better each time.

Once you get past the pure fun of "I Am One of You Forever," then you can start appreciating the resonance of the prose and the rich texture of literary allusions: from Homer to Hawthorne. I've read this book five or six times, and Chappell's storytelling gets better with each reading. "I Am One of You Forever" is a perfect comic complement to Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain": both are representative of the finest Southern fiction and both, coincidentally, take place in a similar area of the North Carolina mountains. This book should receive more recognition. It's a truly great novel.

A magical, funny book to read aloud with someone you love.

Easily the best novel I've read in five years, I've read I Am One of You Forever over and over and over again. The friend, who introduced me to this book and Chappell's other writings, read I Am One of You Forever to me aloud. Chappell's books are meant to be spoken. Whether you read it to yourself or read it aloud to someone you love, I promise you that reading I Am One of You Forever will be one of life's more delightful experiences
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