Littlejohn

by Howard Owen

Hardcover, 1993

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Collection

Publication

Villard (1993), Edition: First Ed. Thus, Hardcover, 230 pages

Description

Now available in paperback, comes a successful and beautifully-written novel about a decent North Carolina farmer haunted by errors and redeemed by faith. Painstakingly honest, Littlejohn is "a character as fully rounded in his quirks and imperfections, in his quiet determination and bravery, as any in recent fiction."--Washington Post. National reading tour.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AnesaMiller
This was the first novel by RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH sports editor Howard Owen. I read it in 1994 shortly after hearing a review/interview on NPR and, believe me, I'll be watching for his second. I enjoyed this novel more than any other I'd read over the winter. Jaak and I read it out loud to each
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other, which no doubt helped me appreciate the narrative style: informal, conversational, perfectly suited to each of the 3 speakers' stations in life. We get 1st person from 3 perspectives: an aging father, his daughter, and his grandson. I found not one word out of place, each voice clear and unique.

All of this skill is needed to balance a weighty tale involving deep secrets of guilt and retribution revealed through almost melodramatic action, spliced together by (kinda improbable) coincidences. Focal point is the meaning of a long and often anguished life, the beauty of a man ready to--literally--meet his maker after best efforts to atone for the consequences of youthful carelessness.

Did southern gothic drama undercut the suspension of my disbelief? Once or twice. But the ending was very moving and I enjoyed a number of unexpectedly good laughs.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

230 p.; 20.5 inches

ISBN

0679427694 / 9780679427698
Page: 1.0378 seconds