Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You: Stories (The Kirkman Family Cycle, 3)

Fred Chappell is a prolific poet and fiction writer praised for his mastery of colloquial dialogue. The Los Angeles Times links him with literary nobility: "Not since James Agee and Robert Penn Warren has a Southern writer displayed such masterful versatility." His latest work takes him back over familiar themes, though with a difference in emphasis. Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You is a collection of tales about the passage of time, the stories exchanged between generations, and the remarkable characters that inhabit any good yarn about the South and small towns. Something of the unbelievable resides in these tales of believable folks. The well-crafted, lyrical quality of Chappell's writing matches the colorful speech of his characters; you don't so much read the language as hear it.