Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi: A Novel [Hardcover]

Nanci Kincaid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2009

Truely Noonan is the quintessential Southern boy made good. Like his older sister, Courtney, Truely left behind the slow, sweet life of Mississippi for jet-set San Francisco, where he earned a fortune as an Internet entrepreneur. Courtney and Truely each find happy marriages--until, as if cursed by success, those marriages start to crumble. Then their lives are interrupted by an unexpected stranger--a troubled teenager named Arnold, garrulous, charming, thuggishly dressed, and determined to move in to their world. Arnold turns their lives upside down--and in the process this unlikely trio becomes the family that each had been searching for. In the best Southern fiction tradition, Kincaid has brought us an inspiring story about finding the way home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a sensibility as sweet as a glass of sugary iced tea and a plot as placid as a hazy summer day, Kincaids sixth book (after As Hot As It Was You Ought to Thank Me) tracks the domestic travails of Truely and Courtney Noonan, brother and sister Mississippians who have forsaken sleepy rural life for adventure in California. Courtney is first to head west, finding marital contentment with Hastings, a countercultural hanger-on she meets at a Grateful Dead concert. With a scholarship for San Jose State, Truely soon follows, connecting with a computer whiz, making an Internet fortune and falling hard for Jesse. Both Noonans seem happily married, until Jesse miscarries and leaves Truely. Then Hastings leaves Courtney for a younger woman because hes not ready to grow old. Though they both live in the Bay Area, these rootless siblings seldom cross paths, until Arnold, a black teenager, insinuates himself into their lives. Kincaid has been pigeonholed as a Southern writer, but this unsentimental story about the forging of an unorthodox family has universal appeal. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"With a sensibility as sweet as a glass of sugary iced tea and a plot as placid as a hazy summer day, Kincaid's sixth book (after As Hot As It Was You Ought to Thank Me) tracks the domestic travails of Truely and Courtney Noonan, brother and sister Mississippians who have forsaken sleepy rural life for adventure in California.... Though they both live in the Bay Area, these rootless siblings seldom cross paths, until Arnold, a black teenager, insinuates himself into their lives. Kincaid has been pigeonholed as a Southern writer, but this unsentimental story about the forging of an unorthodox family has universal appeal." (Publisher's Weekly )

"Playing off its tantalizing title, Kincaid's tale offers a fresh, winning take on basic themes of modern life--leaving, longing and reconnecting with childhood." (People Magazine )

"It takes a little nerve for a non-native Mississippian to write a novel with "Mississippi" in the title, but [Kincaid] isn't fazed by stepping onto hallowed literary ground. . . . This novel isn't in the end, so much about Mississippi as it is about our American future, and on that subject it is decidedly and sweetly optimistic." (Washington Post )

"[T]here's something raffish and whimsical about Kincaid's prose that hooks you good and pulls you in.... [A]ffecting." A- (Entertainment Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316009156
• ISBN-13: 978-0316009157
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.3 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,154,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pure Delight, January 8, 2009

By 

R. A. Taylor "avid reader" (FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi: A Novel (Hardcover)

Nanci Kincaid has created a beautiful, delightful, sweet story in Eat, Drink and Be From Mississippi. The title alone told me that I would be in for a wonderful reading experience from a Southern writer.

This is the story of Truely Noonan and his older sister Courtney. They were born and raised in Mississippi by caring parents, but both left early in life and sought their fortunes in California. Now both are successful, have more money than they know what to do with and live in fine homes. Unfortunately, both have marriages that have crumbled or are crumbling. Into this picture comes Arnold, a young African American male, who is one of the most engaging characters I've read about in a long time. I couldn't help but smile almost every time Arnold spoke.

This is a story of family, perhaps not the traditional family of mom, dad and some children, but family nonetheless. Truely and Courtney are both genuinely good people who take Arnold in and offer him a life he could never hope to achieve on his own.

This is an excellent story told with true Southern charm. It's the kind of story you hate to see end and the characters stay with you long after you read the last page. I highly recommend this book to those who love Southern literature or just a kind, sweet story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Kincaid's "Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi", February 19, 2009

By 

Penne Laubenthal - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi: A Novel (Hardcover)

Nanci Kincaid's fifth novel, "Eat ,Drink , and be from Mississippi" (emphasis on "from") is a departure from her earlier works in both the setting and the gender of the narrator. Previously, Kincaid has told her stories from a female perspective and has set them almost exclusively in the deep south. In her latest novel, the protagonist is male (Truely Noonan), and by page 39 the mis en scene has moved from Hinds County, Mississippi, to the Bay Area of California. What remains constant, however, is Kincaid's sure and distinctive voice and her persistent themes: the depth and complication of family ties, what it means to be from the South, and the complex issue of race relations. A powerful sense of place always imbues all of Kincaid's works, even when the place is as far away from Mississippi as California.

Rooted in Mississippi but played out in California and projected against the backdrop of the war in Iraq while dancing delicately on the shifting carpet of race, "Eat Drink and Be From Mississippi" is another gem of a novel from a gifted story teller. Entertainment Weekly says Nanci Kincaid's prose "hooks you good and pulls you in." And The Washington Post writes "This novel isn't, in the end, so much about Mississippi as it is about our American future, and on that subject it is decidedly and sweetly optimistic."
Read the complete review at
[...]

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Over Too Soon, January 30, 2009

By 

Loves to Read (Wheaton, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi: A Novel (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book and did not want it to end. Like another reviewer, I felt that the story really picked up when Arnold came on the scene. I think it calls out for a sequel to see where all of the characters end up. Also, as well as being a good story, it is really well written - not mind candy at all. This would be a great book for a book club.