false 294731 4 In his second novel, <I>Provinces of Night</I>, William Gay re-creates the oppressive, evocative atmosphere of the American Deep South that he first explored in his debut novel, <I>The Long Home</I>. Against the backdrop of rural Tennessee in the 1950s, our teenage protagonist, Fleming Bloodworth, finds himself alone in the family home after his father, Boyd, abandons him to hunt down and kill his wife's lover. At the same time, Fleming's grandfather decides to return to his family after 20 years of self-imposed exile. He returns to discover that his remaining two sons, Warren and Brady, are in turn an alcoholic womanizer and a Bible-quoting fantasist who enjoys putting curses on his enemies. <p> This is a self-consciously big novel in the Southern tradition that could easily have buckled under the weight of its own ambition. Instead, Gay pulls it off with ease, presenting us with a stream of unforgettable characters. While the central themes of love, loyalty, and forgiveness are explored seriously and sensitively, the finely wrought prose is also sprinkled with moments of genuine humor as Gay proves that he's not afraid to gently mock his gang of Southern eccentrics. This is a wonderful novel and a worthy successor to the tradition it so obviously admires. <I>--Jane Morris, Amazon.co.uk</I> 285985 2000 Provinces of Night total:100|5:52|4:31|3:15|2:2|1:0| 100 433 170 17 5 0 false false Sun Feb 15 19:40:59 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 19:47:20 -0800 2009
But ultimately I came away...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 14 03:41:15 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 17:37:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 11:18:24 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 06:09:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 01 21:10:16 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 21:11:19 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jun 17 10:44:09 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 10:44:48 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 17:08:29 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 17:19:46 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon May 11 20:01:39 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 20:02:53 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jan 23 10:05:34 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 10:08:19 -0800 2008
The s...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Apr 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jan 07 12:20:51 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 25 12:19:33 -0700 2009 Provinces of Night also lacked a strong sense of place, which I think would be necessary to fully capture the lives of the characters. I enjoyed it, but w...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 12:00:35 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 08:20:17 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 25 09:51:17 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 25 09:55:47 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Jan 11 07:17:28 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 13:43:58 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Oct 29 19:10:35 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 29 19:14:47 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Tue Feb 12 22:02:33 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 22:03:49 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 22 16:30:44 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 17:16:42 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jul 02 07:23:55 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 02 07:25:10 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Tue Aug 21 07:23:14 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 21 07:25:51 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Mon Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 17:09:41 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 09:13:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 19 08:38:34 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 08:38:34 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 16 09:12:11 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 09:12:11 -0700 2009