The Homestead

Chilton Williamson, Jr.

ISBN 10: 0802112536 / ISBN 13: 9780802112538

Published by Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1990

About this Item

First Edition stated and the printing numerals are a full line beginning with 1. Inscribed presentation by the author on the front flyleaf. No wear to the binding. No slope, no twist from reading or improper shelving. No bumped corners. No broken hinges. Pages tight and clean with no marks. Other than the presentation, no name of previous owner. No musty odor. No water stains. No soiling. The dust jacket priced at $18.95(not clipped) shows no wear, No sun fading.

Seller Inventory # MP24-759B

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Homestead
• Publisher: Grove Weidenfeld, New York
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802112536
• ISBN 13: 9780802112538
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Fiction/Popular Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

When his brother is charged with attempted murder, Sam Houston Walker returns home to Skull Creek, Wyoming and asks Chuck Richardson, a former lawyer, to represent him

Reviews

This gritty tale of the American West by the author of Desert Light concerns a contentious family fighting to retain their power and wealth when threatened by the forces of change. His brother's arrest for attempted murder draws Sam Houston Walker back to Wyoming and a long-delayed reunion with his relatives. His sister, brother, mother and grandfather ricochet off Houston and each other while awaiting the outcome of Jack Walker's attack on an employee of an oil company that is building a plant near the Walker ranch, an action that has focused the anger of Houston's family against the outsiders they feel are corrupting their community. Yet Chuck Richardson, an "outsider" attorney, agrees to defend Jack for his own reasons. As he and Houston delve into the family's past, old guilts and new puzzles come to light. Events are conveyed to the reader through shifting points of view among several characters, a device that somewhat fragments the narrative momentum. A Faulkner-derivative stream of consciousness reveals Jack as the semi-articulate cowboy of myth whose purpose in assaulting the oilman is unclear. His sister Clarice is Scarlett O'Hara without the charm, and Houston, none too appealing himself, straddles the gulf between being an outsider of his own stamp and a natural member of the ferociously independent family. Williamson's unsentimental portrait of the new West ends with a fine ironic twist.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Although not a sequel to Desert Light ( LJ 6/15/87), this contains some of the same characters. Houston Walker, living in Africa to escape his maddening family, returns home when his virtually insane younger brother nearly kills a man. He argues with his alcoholic patriarch grandfather; his unmanageable sister, for whom he has an incestuous passion; and a variety of eccentric local residents. As defender he hires Chuck Richardson, lawyer/roofer protagonist of Desert Light. They all drink improbable amounts. Unfortunately, this novel substitutes ineffectual rage against the developers and spoilers for the lyrical landscapes and genuine feeling for the land of the first book. The nearly incoherent plot is eventually settled by a clumsy deus ex machina. Limited appeal.
- Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army TRALINET Ctr., Fort Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.