{"product_id":"william-faulkner-and-southern-history","title":"William Faulkner and Southern History","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of Americas great novelists  William Faulkner was a writer deeply rooted in the American South. In works such as The Sound and the Fury  As I Lay Dying  Light in August  and Absalom  Absalom! Faulkner drew powerfully on Southern themes  attitudes  and atmosphere to create his own world and place--the mythical Yoknapatawpha County--peopled with quintessential Southerners such as the Compsons  Sartorises  Snopes  and McCaslins. Indeed  to a degree perhaps unmatched by any other major twentieth-century novelist  Faulkner remained at home and explored his own region--the history and culture and people of the South. Now  in William Faulkner and Southern History  one of Americas most acclaimed historians of the South  Joel Williamson  weaves together a perceptive biography of Faulkner himself  an astute analysis of his works  and a revealing history of Faulkners ancestors in Mississippi--a family history that becomes  in Williamsons skilled hands  a vivid portrait of Southern culture itself. Williamson provides an insightful look at Faulkners ancestors  a group sketch so brilliant that the family comes alive almost as vividly as in Faulkners own fiction. Indeed  his ancestors often outstrip his characters in their colorful and bizarre nature. Williamson has made several discoveries: the Falkners (William was the first to spell it \"Faulkner\") were not planter  slaveholding \"aristocrats\"; Confederate Colonel Falkner was not an unalloyed hero  and he probably sired  protected  and educated a mulatto daughter who married into Americas mulatto elite; Faulkners maternal grandfather Charlie Butler stole the towns money and disappeared in the winter of 1887-1888  never to return. Equally important  Williamson uses these stories to underscore themes of race  class  economics  politics  religion  sex and violence  idealism and Romanticism--\"the rainbow of elements in human culture\"--that reappear in Faulkners work. He also shows that  while Faulkners ancestors were no ordinary people  and while he sometimes flashed a curious pride in them  Faulkner came to embrace a pervasive sense of shame concerning both his family and his culture. This he wove into his writing  especially about sex  race  class  and violence  psychic and otherwise. William Faulkner and Southern History represents an unprecedented publishing event--an eminent historian writing on a major literary figure. By revealing the deep history behind the art of the Souths most celebrated writer  Williamson evokes new insights and deeper understanding  providing anyone familiar with Faulkners great novels with a host of connections between his work  his life  and his ancestry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964146184245,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195101294","price":39.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195101294.jpg?v=1770450911","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/william-faulkner-and-southern-history","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}