A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Redneck

by Sandy Huffaker

An wounded and wandering artist returns to his Southern roots after many successful years in New York City and elsewhere. He finds his native land much improved, almost to the point of its finally having joined the Union. He had forgotten the Southern sense of humor (which was his own) and the wild storytelling tradition. He runs into unforgettable and hilarious characters filtering down from the mountains and hills of the Southern heartland. His long homelessness is stilled as his sense of place returns. This is an insightful and side-splittingly funny little slice-of-life tale. In fact, one reviewer named Mavis said, “I laughed my ass off!”

86 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2009

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, it’s not a “heavy” or profound book, but then it’s not meant to be. I read it in one sitting; it’s short with large print. I ordered it because I grew up in the same neighborhood as the author, knew many people in common - and have come to realize I would have really enjoyed knowing him better and knowing about his art career earlier - and he recently died , just a year older than I. It’s certainly not the first time I went hunting up more knowing about a subject in a later time than would have been ideal.

I also ordered the book because it has some of his artwork included. It’s not mentioned in the ads that everything except cover art is black and white and cheap copy as well. Still, I’m glad to have the book. And would say “RIP Sandy” if that kind of thing meant something to either of us other than on a symbolic level.