Brighten the Corner Where You Are: A Novel [Paperback]

Fred Chappell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1990

This story of a day in the life of Joe Robert Kirkman, a North Carolina mountain schoolteacher, sly prankster, country philosopher, and family man, won the hearts of readers and reviewers across the country.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This gentle, wryly comic look at one day in the life of a rural North Carolina schoolteacher, Joe Robert Kirkman, is narrated by his son Jess (seen in Chappell's earlier novel, I Am One of You Forever ). The year is 1946, and Joe Robert is no ordinary schoolteacher. He is a farmer, a hunter, a dreamer and a philosopher whose innovative teaching methods and evenhanded approach to the theory of evolution have irked the local school board--they have summoned him to a late afternoon meeting. His ideals and livelihood imperiled, Robert feels--understandably--apprehensive, and to make matters worse, that day's bizarre series of events (an unfortunate encounter with a treed bobcat, a courageous rescue of a drowning child, and several unsettling metaphysical discussions) have left him battered in mind and body. The meeting is hilarious, if inconclusive. A finely drawn series of minor characters, including stoic farmers and wives, tale-spinning coon hunters and a shrewd local reporter, enriches this modest yet deeply satisfying chronicle.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Narrated with wit and engaging high spirits by his son Jess, this brief, sparkling novel re-creates the comic episodes that constitute Joe Robert Kirkman's last day as high school teacher in Tipton, North Carolina, in 1946: running afoul of a bobcat high in a poplar tree; rescuing a child from drowning; accepting a tribute from the parents of a suicide; coping creatively with the touchy subject of evolution in his general science class; discovering the humanity of the black janitor; coaxing a goat from a roof; and losing a Socratic argument to the shyest student in his world history class. With his open, Marxist (Harpo) view of the postwar world, Kirkman is a riotous, riveting fictional creation. A superb comic work.
- Charles C. Nash, Cottey Coll., Nevada, Mo.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (August 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312050577
• ISBN-13: 978-0312050573
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That Old Chappell Magic, July 16, 2002

By 

Randall Ivey "Randall" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brighten the Corner Where You Are: A Novel (Paperback)

Fred Chappell is one of contemporary American literature's true magicians. Not a trickster now. His is an honest magic wrought from imagination, intelligence, humor, and an unsurpassed linguisitc gift.

BRIGHTEN THE CORNER WHERE YOU ARE gives us ample evidence of this legerdemain. It is the second part of Chappell's quartet of novels involving Jess Kirkman and his indominatible family in the mountains of western North Carolina. Whereas the first novel, I AIM ONE OF YOU FOREVER, focuses on the boy Jess, this second book concerns his father, Joe Robert, schoolteacher, storyteller, scientist, prankster, and eternal child at heart whose guiding principle is a "priority of delight"

The novel's "plot", such as it is, centers on one day in Joe Robert's life - and it is quite an eventful day! He chases the notorious "devil-possum" - a figment of his wild imagination- up a tree to impress his buddies, only to encounter a real life panther which sends Joe Robert tumbling to scrapes and bruises. He saves a little girl from drowning. He coaxes a recalcitrant goat off the school roof. And he faces the school board, with expulsion a real possibility, for his unapologetic teaching of Darwin.

These set pieces allow for much humor in the good old Southern Applalachian tall tale tradition of Joel Chandler Harris, George Washington Harris, and William Gilmore Simms. Yet more importantly they draw an indelible portrait of a good man, a bit times too childish perhaps, but with the proper animating spirit of life.

This is a marvelous novel by a marvelous writer.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magical day in the life of a teacher in the rural South., February 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Brighten the Corner Where You Are: A Novel (Paperback)

Readers of Chappell's previous book I Am One of You Forever will be charmed and delighted with Brighten the Corner Where You Are. It records a very magical day in the life of Jess' father Joe Robert, a school teacher in rural North Carolina of the 1940s. From his mysterious encounter while possum hunting to his rescue of a little girl from drowning to his revealing conversation with a goat on the school-house roof, Brighten the Corner Where You Are is a very funny, wise and warm book sure to brighten any reader's corner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant, but Disappointing, January 28, 2003

By 

Winston Smith (Locust Grove, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brighten the Corner Where You Are: A Novel (Paperback)

Fred Chappell's *Brighten the Corner Where You Are* is the second offering in the "Jess Series", preceeded by *I Am One Of You Forever*. The story is narrated by Jess, and covers one extraordinary day in the life of Joe Robert Kirkman, farmer, country school teacher, incorrigible cut-up, and father of Jess. In the course of the day, Joe Robert climbs a tall poplar tree in the dark and there encounters the incarnation of his own lie, rescues a drowning girl, teaches a couple of remarkable classes, debates a goat, and makes various discoveries about the students and faculty of the school where he teaches. Characters and settings from the first book make appearances in the second, providing much needed continuity. I say "much needed" because the Joe Robert in *Brighten* bears so little resemblence to the Joe Robert in *Forever* that the reader may not believe that it is the same character. Perhaps it's simply a matter of emphasis and character development, a stage-setting for the final book in the trilogy. But, I was somewhat disappointed through much of the book. The story seems almost forced, trying to match the absolutely amazing subtlety and poingnancy of *Forever*. Though the story does finally resolve, the steps to the catharsis are ambiguous. However, when the resolution does occur, it does so with all the magic and charm of *I Am One Of You Forever*. But, getting to the resolution becomes a little tedious. I think the main problem with the story is that Joe Robert comes off as just a little too perfect, just too nice a guy to be believable.
The story has all the elements of great Southern literature; quirky characters, emphasis on the human connection to nature, mysticism, family, religion, and that most prominent of Southern traits, a profound understanding of death. To see how a truly skillful author handles these themes is reason enough to read the book. The italicized chapters of the book are truly poetic, and naturally so, as Mr. Chappell is an excellent poet.
Do read *Brighten the Corner Where You Are*, if only to complete the trilogy. But, read it with the hope that the third book in the series will be better.