Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories [Paperback]

Gurney Norman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1977

Fiction. "Like Sherwood Anderson's 'Winesburg, Ohio' or Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, both of which it resembles in form and style, 'Kinfolks' is a short-story cycle dramatizing the growth of a young boy to early manhood, particularly as his development is reflected in changing relationships within a large Appalachian family. Like that of his mentors, Norman's work is novelistic in scope while preserving in the individual episodes the essential qualities of the short story. This new work can only enhance his reputation by suggesting that Norman may be the outstanding Appalachian storyteller of his generation"-The Courier-Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Gnomon (January 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0917788109
• ISBN-13: 978-0917788109
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #378,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A finely-honed, hilarious portrait of life in Kentucky., November 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories (Paperback)

For many years as a Freshman English instructor, I assigned this book to students from all over the country. Though many of them groaned at the thought of reading a book "about hillbillies" when they first heard the title, Gurney Norman's wonderful comedic touch and unique, likeable, well-rounded characters never failed to win them over. Though Norman's book, in the best tradition of Southern fiction, is strongly rooted in "place," the author succeeds in transcending his stories' locales, making Wilgus and his family seem like people any of us might know and many of us would wish to know. You don't have to be from Kentucky coal-mining country to enjoy this book. You only have to love fine writing, powerful characterization, and sharply-honed humor in the best tradition of Faulkner, O'Connor, and Norman's friend and fellow Kentucky author Ed McClanahan.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful without the sap!, November 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories (Paperback)

This unique, realistic collection of short stories presents the reader with psychologically complex characters threaded throughout one Appalachian family. Norman's greatest success is that he is able to access Applachian life with an unflinching eye and yet treat it with a tenderness that is neither maudlin nor overdone. This short book puts certain more popular Kentucky writers to shame, for it adamantly refuses to fall into Appalachian stereotypes and treats its characters as the complex, often flawed, but dignified people that they are. Say what you will about Mason and Offut; Norman represents the finest short story writing in the region and remains one of Kentucky's best known secrets

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful stories about a boy and Appalachia., May 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories (Paperback)

Norman spins his story telling magic again. He returns to his roots in eastern Kentucky and beautifully tells the tale of Wilgus and his struggle to grow and search for meaning. The characters are teeming with life and the prose is fluid enabling one to travel along with Wilgus. If you have read Divine Right's Trip and yearn for more Norman this is it.