Interviews with: Doris Betts Fred Chappell Shelby Foote Jesse Hill Ford George Garrett Larry L. King Marion Montgomery Willie Morris Guy Owen Walker Percy Reynolds Price James Whitehead What does it mean to be a Southern writer in the 1970s? What is the nature of today's South and what prospects does it offer a writer? These twelve interviews with writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction elicit some thoughtful and revealing answers. Because the interviews were taped, there is a spontaneity that brings forth ...
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Interviews with: Doris Betts Fred Chappell Shelby Foote Jesse Hill Ford George Garrett Larry L. King Marion Montgomery Willie Morris Guy Owen Walker Percy Reynolds Price James Whitehead What does it mean to be a Southern writer in the 1970s? What is the nature of today's South and what prospects does it offer a writer? These twelve interviews with writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction elicit some thoughtful and revealing answers. Because the interviews were taped, there is a spontaneity that brings forth the personality of each writer and provides a text that is interesting and entertaining as well as instructive. In the first interview with Shelby Foote to appear since the early 1950s, the Mississippi novelist discusses his fiction and extensive writing on Civil War history. A thoughtful conversation with Walker Percy ranges over his three novels and reveals their philosophical roots. Marion Montgomery speaks perceptively about his fiction and poetry as ceremonial efforts "to reconcile the private act with the public act." A two-part interview with Reynolds Price suggests the nature of one novelist's mind as he chronicles a world beneath the one other people perceive, "that world which seems to impinge upon, to color, to shape, the daily world we inhabit." Willie Morris tells about growing up in Mississippi, about going home to Yazoo, and about the effect of New York on his Southernness, while Larry L. King speaks of race relations, literature, and Texas and talks frankly about how he and Morris came to resign from Harper's . The short story is Doris Betts' forte, and she comments significantly on the form which allows her to "speak briefly on long subjects." The business of writing is as irrational as kite-flying, observes George Garrett in a candid discussion of the publishing world, his own ups and downs as a writer, and his latest novel, The Death of the Fox. Jesse Hill Ford, talking about his fiction and his writing career, speaks up proudly for the South: "Nest to a bulldozer blade a magnolia is probably the hardest damned thing in the world." Both the mountain country of North Carolina and the fantastic landscapes of his imagination have influenced Fred Chappell, who remarks on the grotesque in his novels and poetry. Guy Owen tells about his interacting roles as fiction writer, poet, editor, and teacher; his compelling interest in the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina; and his experience with Hollywood. Poetry, the novel, football, and a passion for teaching are the subjects of a provocative and free-wheeling conversation with James Whitehead. "Have you ever stopped to think that for the first time there have been no rational rewards for writing in the way that there were in the past. . . Nowadays, it's about as rational as saying, 'What do you do for a living?' 'Well, I'm a kite-flyer.' I mean there's not a great demand for kite-flyers around. There may be a few who draw a little money. Therefore, today, writing appeals to a different mentality. A Shakespeare today might be doing something else that's more rational. Now the other thing is that because this is true, fundamentally writing doesn't matter in the world of commerce. It has a certain kind of--I wouldn't say purity, but freedom that is never had."--George Garrett
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Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts to cart. $18.00, very good condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1972 by Louisiana State Uni.
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Very Good in Good jacket. First edition. Very good or better in good dust jacket. Former owner's name on front endpaper. Dustwrapper soiled on inside cover. Dustwrapper cover rubbed.
Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts: Conversations to cart. $20.00, very good condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1972 by Louisiana State University Press.
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Near Fine in Very Good jacket. First edition. Top corners bumped, near fine in a very good dust jacket with bumping at the top corners, and a tiny nick on the front panel. Includes interviews of Shelby Foote, Reynolds Price, Walker Percy, Doris Betts, Jesse Hill Ford, James Whitehead and more.
Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts: Conversations to cart. $20.00, like new condition, Sold by 2VBooks rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Derwood, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1972 by Louisiana State University Press.
Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts: Conversations to cart. $25.00, like new condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1972 by Louisiana State University Press.
Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts: Conversations to cart. $25.00, very good condition, Sold by Southampton Sag Harbor Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southampton, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1972 by LSU Press.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. First Edition, First Printing. Not price-clipped ($10.00 price intact). Published by Louisiana State University Press, 1972. Octavo. Book is very good with very light toning to the page ends. Dust jacket is very good with a few nicks to the spine and flaps. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.
Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts: Conversations to cart. $28.18, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 1999 by LSU Press.
Add this copy of Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts: Conversations to cart. $33.24, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by LSU Press.
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