Selected by Granta as one of America's best young writers and featured in The New Yorker's best young fiction issue, Tony Earley now gives us a luminous portrait of a ten-year-old boy growing up in the Depression-era town of Aliceville, North Carolina:

"As the sun began to set, Jim and the uncles watched the last yellow light of the day slide up the mountain toward the bald, dragging evening behind it. When the light went out of their faces, they turned and watched it retreat up the peak, where at the summit a single tree flared defiantly before going dark. A chilly breeze whipped from nowhere across the bald and flapped the legs of Jim's overalls. He turned with the uncles for a last look at the view before heading down the mountain. All but the brightest greens had drained out of the world, leaving in their stead an array of somber blues. A low fog had begun to seep out between the trees along Painter Creek. Jim jumped down from the rock and looked again toward home."

At once delightful and wise, Jim the Boy brilliantly captures the pleasures and fears of youth at a time when America itself was young and struggling to come into its own.

Jim the Boy will appeal to the readers who loved classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, Ellen Foster, and A Member of the Wedding.

About the Author:

Tony Earley's short stories earned him a place on Granta's list of the 20 Best Young American Fiction Writers in 1996 and a National Magazine Award for fiction. He has twice been included in the acclaimed anthology, Best American Short Stories. The author's previous novel, Here We Are in Paradise (Little, Brown and Company, 1994), received critical acclaim in The New York Times Book Review and Details, among other publications. He lives with his wife and dogs in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University.

...an old fashioned novel that perfectly captures the innocence and confusion and wonder of childhood...manner in which the story is told suggest the certainty of an immensely gifted writer...rich and satisfying, but wholesome just the same..." (Chicago Tribune, 5/28/00)

Categories:

• Literature & Fiction
  • United States