The Story of a Country Boy

by Dawn Powell, Tim Page (Introduction)

Former Ohio farmer Christopher Bennett enjoys his position and country club living as the general manager of an East Coast steel corporation, until a series of hardships force him to reconsider his values and world.

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Dawn Powell was an American writer of satirical novels and stories that manage to be barbed and sensitive at the same time.

Reviews

[Gerry Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one of her best, but engaging nonetheless, as a period piece about the world of business leading into the Depression. I had a hard time being sympathetic with the protagonist, and felt that Madeline was probably the most well developed character, psychologically. There’s some beautiful descriptive writing in the country scenes, and like any good literature, there are moments of insight into human nature and universal truths.

[Kimb · Rating 4 out of 5]

alarmingly insightful

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is better at the beginning than at the end. Or maybe I just got sick of the characters. It's about the fall from grace of a "country boy" who gets involved in big business and loses his sense of himself as he gets tempted by the excessive lifestyle that is opened to him. And then the great depression hits. It's one of those books that was actually written a long time ago and somebody decided to print it again so we could all rediscover it. It's sort of politically interesting, b/c there's this whole thing about the rich guy still perceiving himself as one of the working class even though he's got like 3 cars. OK, gotta go to class...