The Rough Road Home: Stories by North Carolina Writers

by Robert Gingher (Editor)

Overview

This anthology of twenty-two short stories by contemporary North Carolina writers, selected by Gingher, the longtime book review editor of the Greensboro News and Record, is a testament to the vitality of the literary tradition of the state. Contributors include Alice Adams, Maya Angelou, Doris Betts, Fred Chappell, Clyde Edgerton, Kaye Gibbons, Allan Gurganus, Randall Kenan, Reynolds Price, and Lee Smith.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807843970
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/01/1992
Edition description:	1
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.79(d)

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This generally excellent anthology celebrates writers who were cradled in or have resided in North Carolina. Readers are taken down the country roads and city streets of the South to uncover intriguing settings and characters, from white trash to aristocrats to non-stereotypical African Americans.—Publishers Weekly



The Rough Road Home is living proof of something lots of us have been thinking for a good while—that North Carolina has some of the finest writers, the best and the brightest, of all ages and at all stages, in America. This superlative collection, elegantly and thoughtfully edited by Robert Gingher, shows a wonderful creativity and a wide diversity of voices. There is real pleasure and excitement here for every reader who cares about contemporary fiction.—George Garrett



This would be a distinguished collection if it were subtitled 'stories by American writers.' The amazing truth—that they are all by North Carolina writers—is really pretty hard to believe. The Rough Road Home is a stunning collection and a landmark book. And great fun to read.—Josephine Humphreys



When Thomas Wolfe proclaimed that you can't go home again, he sure as hell didn't mean in fiction. Indeed, when it comes to their stories, most North Carolina writers can hardly get out the front door to leave, and if they finally do, they flee down the highways of their region, forever glancing over their shoulders at the past, which is always right there with them. That's the compelling revelation of this fine and affectionate anthology.—Will Blythe, literary editor for Esquire

Editorial Reviews

Fine and affectionate.

Will Blythe, literary editor for "Esquire"

"Fine and affectionate.

Will Blythe, literary editor for "Esquire""

"The Rough Road Home" is a stunning collection and a landmark book. And great fun to read.

Josephine Humphreys

There is real pleasure and excitement here for every reader who cares about contemporary fiction.

George Garrett

This generally excellent anthology celebrates writers who were cradled in or have resided in North Carolina.

"Publishers Weekly"

From the Publisher

This generally excellent anthology celebrates writers who were cradled in or have resided in North Carolina. Readers are taken down the country roads and city streets of the South to uncover intriguing settings and characters, from white trash to aristocrats to non-stereotypical African Americans. The clunkers are few here and the stories of note are numerous. There are fine contributions from well-known authors Alice Adams, Maya Angelou and Allan Gurganus. Highlights come from Clyde Edgerton and Max Steele, who tell stories of how a preoccupation with manners and propriety can spell disaster. In Edgerton's story, an elderly woman falls through the seat of her rocking chair but is more concerned that her rescuers will find her dishes unwashed and the television tuned to a soap opera than that she cannot extricate herself from the chair. Steele describes a prudish woman whose trip to purchase a hat turns into a night-long adventure to a stranger's funeral. This volume supports Gingher's assertion that North Carolina is producing some of the best current American fiction writers. Gingher teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A saying about North Carolina writers compares them with their neighbors in Virginia and South Carolina: North Carolina is a vale of humility between two mountains of conceit. But North Carolina writers have a way of constantly showing up in the news, and, with the publication of this book, the Old North State can justifiably erupt and create its own egotistical summit. Included in this collection are Jill McCorkle, Maya Angelou, Lee Smith, and Fred Chappell, well known among Tarheels and respected nationally. In his introduction, editor Gingher, book review editor of the Greensboro News and Record, wonders whether there is still a distinctive Southern literature. Could anyone but a Southern writer have created a woman like Mattie in Clyde Edgerton's ``Washing Dishes''? Mattie is familiar with the Broadman Hymnal yet watches All My Children in secrecy. Still, with this collection successfully demonstrating the propensity of Southern writers to focus outside Dixie, Gingher's point is well taken--as this collection ought to be.-- Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

Library Journal

YA-- Some of the finest contemporary American writers, such as Alice Adams, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Cox, Clyde Edgerton, Kaye Gibbons, Jill McCorkle, Tim McLaurin, Reynolds Price, and Lee Smith, are included in this rich collection. It's a real find for short-story fans and a good introduction to the genre for YAs.

School Library Journal