Overview

One of the Souths most revered writers, Ernest J. Gaines attracts both popular and academic audiences. Gainess unique literary style, depiction of the African American experience, and celebration of the rural Souths oral tradition have brought him critical praise and numerous accolades, including a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Humanities Medal, and a National Book Critics Circle Award for his novel A Lesson before Dying. In this welcome guide to Gainess fiction, Keith Clark offers insightful analyses of his novels and short stories. Clarks close readings elucidate Gainess more acclaimed worksincluding The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Gathering of Old Menwhile also introducing lesser-known but masterfully crafted pieces, such as the story Three Men and the civil rights novel In My Fathers House. Gainess most recent work, The Tragedy of Brady Sims, receives here one of its first critical examinations. Clark shows how the themes of Gainess literary oeuvre, produced over the past fifty years, dovetail with issues reverberating in twenty-first-century America: race and the criminal justice system; black masculinity; the environment; the enduring impact of slavery; black southern womens voices; and blacks and whites interpretation of history. In addition to textual discussions, the book includes an interview Clark conducted with Gaines at the writers home in New Roads, Louisiana, in 2014, further illuminating the inner workings and personality of this eminent literary artist.