Appalachee Red: A Novel (Brown Thrasher Books Ser.)

Just finished Appalachee Red and the first thought I had was Oh I'm so disappointed...that it's over. I wanted to keep reading this story. I do miss reading experiences like this one. Thank you, Mr. Andrews.

Can't believe this book is out of print! Classic rural Georgia

Despite being the first recipient of the James Baldwin Prize in 1978, Andrews work was largely neglected. Tragically , Andrews committed suicide in Nov. 1991 just as he was beginning to garner serious critical (and well deserved) attention. It does not take long for the reader to realize s/he is in the hands of a great prose stylist. Sometimes the words roll out in long lines of Faulknerian intricacy and pure poetic brilliance; at other times with a hip, masculine, self-assured delivery saved from macho boorishness by a sly, self-conscious humor. Appalachee Red, part I of the Muskhogean Trilogy, takes place between 1918-1963. These years and pages are filled with systemic corruption, the popular vices of gambling, prostitution, and drunkenness, and also rape, murder, insanity, massive labor exploitation, and neo-enslavement. Out of these elements, Andrews fashions intricate, heart wrenching tragedy, sharp social criticism, and a huge dose of outrageous black comedy. This is not just an African-American but an all -American novel as symbolized in the names of 3 prominent characters: Appalachee RED (who is 1/2 White , 1/2 Black), Sheriff Clyde WHITE (White), and BLUE Thompson (Black). This America is not the benign melting pot of our delusional American official mythology. Beyond the obvious divisions of Black and White, Male and Female, we have the cultural divisions of town and country, and Dionysian Baptists vs. Apollonian Methodists. Within the African-American community, the racist hierarchy of White over Black is tragically racapitulated in this pre-"Black is Beautiful" world by a rigid division between light and dark skinned African-Americans. Yet, if this situation reflects the outer world, we all know that the light skinned are the product of unspoken White/Black sex, often from the violent rape of Black women by dominant Whites. Appalachee Red, as a light skinned Black man, upsets both the tradition of official racial separation and the unofficial, secretive, violent tradition of Black/White relations by openly and lovingly living with a beautiful, dark skinned woman whose name I will not reveal for fear of ruining the story for potential readers. The scene when these 2 people meet reminded me of the famous mirror scene in George Eliot's Middlemarch but instead of the mirror being a symbol of unreflective self-absorption, this woman looks into her mirror and in a vivid, ingeniously rendered scene, is drawn into a highly charged sexual vortex that allows her to transcend her world. Reading this novel can itself be a transcendent experience.

Andrews successfully and deftly integrates several intertwining narratives and characters into one intricate, yet very accessible narrative. _Appalachee Red_ is at once a novelized study of the complexity of race relations in the South from around the turn of the century until the onset of the Civil Rights Movement. It is constructed around the birth of the child of an affluent white father and his African American maid. The child is eventually sent North to live with the mother's relatives but later returns to the town of his birth as an adult intent on receiving what is due him.As the story unfolds, several larger than life characters appear who are almost Homeric in proportion. Their stories move the narrative in several directions and expand it almost to the breaking point, but Andrews always manages to remain in control. Rather than detract from one another, the narratives complement one another, always reminding the reader of the interconnectedness of our lives.Andrew's knack for storytelling makes this a can't-put-down book. Even amidst the daily violence, fear, injustice, and degradation of southern life for African Americans, his story is uproarously funny but never at the expense or dignity of his subjects; the seriousness of their plight is always upfront. However, not only are African Americans the veritable prisoners of the social system; white Americans, too, find themselves imprisoned by the very system they fight so hard to uphold.The only regret I have about this novel is that it took me so long to find it.

This a great book, if only for the sneaking way Andrews's superb writing sudenly shocks the reader into the realization of what great talent he had. I won't give away any of the story- readers should pick up the book and find out for themselves. I will tell you, though, that what attracted me to Andrews in the first place was the tragic story of his all too short life. I may be suspect for reading a book only because of the interest I had in the author's personality. Does this take away from the work ? Possibly, but authors are intriguing people, and their personal stories can be as compelling as their fiction. Andrews has an elegant style that comes across as almost savage at the same time. This book is populated with a vivid gallery of characters that breath life right of the page. Andrews can take his palce among the canon of great the Southern writers that came befor him- Faulkner, O'Connor- and his living contemporaries like the Great George Garrett. Read and enjoy !