Books That Mattered, The: A Reader’s Memoir - Hardcover

Gaillard, Frye

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1588382877 ISBN 13: 9781588382870

Publisher: NewSouth Books, 2012

Synopsis

Frye Gaillard’s first encounters with books were disappointing. As a child he never cared much for fairy tales – “stories of cannibalism and mayhem in which giants and witches, tigers and wolves did their best to eat small children.” But at the age of nine, he discovered Johnny Tremain, a children’s novel of the Revolutionary War, which began a lifetime love affair with books, recounted here as a reader’s tribute to the writings that enriched and altered his life. In a series of carefully crafted, often deeply personal essays, Gaillard blends memoir, history and critical analysis to explore the works of Harper Lee, Anne Frank, James Baldwin, Robert Penn Warren, John Steinbeck, and many others. As this heartfelt reminiscence makes clear, the books that chose Frye Gaillard shaped him like an extended family. Reading The Books that Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir will make you study your own shelves to find clues into your own literary heart.

About this title

About the Author

Frye Galliard is a writer in residence at the University of South Alabama and award-winning author of more than 20 books, including Watermelon Wine: The Spirit of Country Music, The Quilt: And the Poetry of Alabama Music, Journey to the Wilderness: War, Memory, and a Southern Family’s Civil War Letters, The Books That Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir, and Go South to Freedom, all published by NewSouth Books. His book A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope and Innocence Lost is forthcoming from NewSouth. He is the winner of the Lillian Smith Award, the Clarence Cason Award for Non-Fiction, the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year Award, and the 2016 Eugene Current-Garcia Award For Distinction in Literary Scholarship.

Review

"The Books That Mattered is an individualized account of books that affected one accomplished writer. . . .there is something charming about this book. Perhaps it’s the sensitivity with which Gaillard recounts his gradual coming to terms with his home. Or perhaps it’s the dogged reassurance that books do matter, that they can instruct us if we endeavor, as we must, to put them into revealing contexts while expanding our own contexts. Or perhaps it’s simply the joy that comes with getting to know someone, which is what you’ve done by the time you’ve finished The Books That Mattered." ―Southern Literary Review

"Beautifully written ... highly recommended." ―Fred Kasten, host and producer of WWNO's The Sound of Books

"Frye Gaillard doesn’t simply read books; he inhabits them. The Books That Mattered is a fascinating, well-written book that keeps on giving." ―Faye Jones, Chapter 16, Humanities Tennessee

"Frye Gaillard's The Books That Mattered is one to join the ranks of those mentioned within. Combining personal and literary memories, he carves out his own landscape as a reader. The result is entertaining and enlightening. This book will inspire you to reach for old favorites as well as those you have missed along the way.” ―Jill McCorkle, author of Going Away Shoes and Carolina Moon

"Wonderful ... After reading The Books That Mattered I felt like compiling my own list." ―Ann Marie Martin, The Huntsville Times

"Written with warmth, a scholar’s attention to detail and genuine insight, The Books That Mattered is a gift to readers everywhere―an engrossing personal history mapped, like stones across a river, in the books that shaped its author’s life. A reminder of why reading matters to us all." ―Michael Knight, author of The Typist

"In his latest work, Gaillard pays homage to the many writers who came before him. Though subtitled 'A Reader’s Memoir,' it’s more than that. A mix of biography, autobiography and literary criticism, the result is a heartfelt love letter to literature. Wavering precariously on the border between critic and bibliophile, Gaillard bucks both roles by combining them, bringing with him a lifetime spent buried in books. While each chapter explores a particular theme―race, region, reportage, etc.―his conclusions come not from his own experiences, but the experience of reading others’ work through a historical lens. An exuberantly written account of one writer’s leap toward understanding life’s intersection with literature." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Reporter and author Frye Gaillard was one of the rare voices of reason in the South during the social upheaval that followed the outlawing of segregation. This thoughtful work shows where most of his ideas and inspiration got started." ―Don McKinney, Island Packet

"Frye Gaillard, author of some twenty volumes and winner of both the Lillian Smith Award and the Clarence Cason Award writes here with insight and feeling about the books that mattered." ―Don Noble, Alabama Writers' Forum

"In this era when a deep immersion in books is too-often viewed as unimportant, Frye Gaillard has given us a powerful reminder that literature can enrich, even dramatically change, the course of our lives. The Books That Mattered deserves a wide and appreciative audience." ―Ron Rash, author of Serena: A Novel

About this edition

• Publisher: NewSouth Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1588382877
• ISBN 13: 9781588382870
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224