Larry Brown (1951-2004) was unique among writers who started their
careers in the late twentieth century. Unlike most of them-his friends
Clyde Edgerton, Jill McCorkle, Rick Bass, Kaye Gibbons, among others-he
was neither a product of a writing program, nor did he teach at one. In
fact, he did not even attend college. His innate talent, his immersion
in the life of north Mississippi, and his determination led him to
national success. Drawing on excerpts from numerous letters and material
from interviews with family members and friends, "Larry Brown: A
Writer's Life" is the first biography of a landmark southern writer.
Jean W. Cash explores the cultural milieu of Oxford, Mississippi, and the writers who influenced Brown, including William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Harry Crews, and Cormac McCarthy. She covers Brown's history in Mississippi, the troubled family in which he grew up, and his boyhood in Tula and Yocona, Mississippi, and in Memphis, Tennessee. She relates stories from Brown's time in the Marines, his early married life-which included sixteen years as an Oxford fireman-and what he called his "apprenticeship" period, the eight years during which he was teaching himself to write publishable fiction.
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Larry Brown (1951-2004) was unique among writers who started their careers in the late twentieth century. Unlike most of them--his friends Clyde Edgerton, Jill McCorkle, Rick Bass, Kaye Gibbons, among others--he was neither a product of a writing program, nor did he teach at one. In fact, he did not even attend college.